All About the Mission
by Slaymesoftly
Summary: The sequel to I Would Still Have Loved You. We're now in Season 5 and Dawn and Glory are about to arrive. This is the year that will change everything - if they can get Buffy through it alive. And if that doesn't change their own world so much they aren't together anymore. Little canon here as so much has already changed the previous year, so pretty AU from here on.
1. Chapter 1

Part 2 of IWSHLY

 **IT'S ALL ABOUT THE MISSION**

(Season 5)

 **CHAPTER ONE**

Summer passed even more tamely than usual. Buffy managed to avoid going to see her father in LA, pleading extra classes during the summer to make up for missing some in the spring –although that hadn't actually happened in this timeline. On her way home from a boring patrol one evening in August, she thought about the coming year, telling herself she should be grateful for the last few relatively easy months. Between not having to worry about Adam, and with Spike around to help with the slaying, she wondered aloud if she was losing her edge.

"I really need to get myself into a good fight," she muttered. "I'm going to get slow and sloppy." She ignored the little voice in her head saying, "Be careful what you wish for…."

"Buffy? Could you stop here for a moment before you go in?"

She glanced up to see Max waving at her from the office doorway. With a smile, she jogged up the steps, taking them two at a time.

"What's up, Max?" While Buffy and Spike hadn't let Max in on their secret, they had learned to trust him and enjoy his company. It was relaxing to be around someone who knew what they were and was comfortable with it. Someone who wasn't a Scooby or a watcher.

"Nothing important, just a package someone left for you." He handed her a small, tightly wrapped package and glanced behind her. "Where's Spike tonight? Were you on your own?" He almost sounded concerned.

Buffy's laugh was a little forced. "I spent most of my time as a slayer on my own, Max. Having Spike here is nice, but it's a bonus, not something I have to have, you know."

"My apologies. I didn't mean to imply that you weren't a very capable slayer. I just had hoped to… It doesn't matter. I'm sorry. Of course, you're fine on your own."

Buffy's expression softened. "He's playing cards tonight with Clem, and as long as I'm not with him, I can pretend I don't know they're using kittens for poker chips."

"Ah. No doubt a wise decision then." He smiled as she turned to go down the stairs. "I'll just walk out with you, if you don't mind." He locked the door behind him, muttered a few words Buffy couldn't hear, and followed her down the stairs.

"Do you need an escort tonight for some reason?" Buffy asked, her curiosity piqued by his unusual actions. Max lived in the back of the building on the second floor, and she knew he accessed the stairs to his apartment from the back of the office. And she was fairly certain he had just muttered a spell over the door.

"Um, not exactly. But if you wouldn't mind standing here with me until my ride arrives, I'd appreciate it."

"Sure, no problem," she agreed, extending her senses but not detecting any evil vibes. "Is there a problem I could handle for you?"

"Nothing in your line of work," he said. "I would hate to get you involved. I was actually hoping Spike would be here."

Buffy stiffened and narrowed her eyes. "You think _Spike_ is better protection than I am?"

"No, no, not at all! I didn't mean for that to come out quite that way. It's just that when dealing with … people… he—"

"You mean humans," Buffy said, knowing Max was well aware of Sunnydale's population of vampires and demons.

"Yes, humans." He sighed. "To them, you would appear to be a very beautiful, but rather small and normal-looking young lady. Whereas Spike…."

"Can be intimidating even when he isn't showing his fangs," Buffy said with a sigh. "I get it. But I'm just as capable of making someone wish they'd never met me as he is."

"I'm quite sure you are. However, my goal, if possible, is to merely frighten these particular humans rather than actually injure them. They're quite young, and I suspect a conversation with the right person would serve to change their thinking."

"I guess we'll find out," said Buffy, pointing down the street where a group of teenage boys were prowling menacingly toward them. Buffy set her package down on the bottom step and waited beside Max.

"Hey, old man," the leader said as he approached. "Do you have our money for us?"

"I believe I made it very clear that I am not willing to pay you for not vandalizing my building or harassing my tenants," Max replied. "I really wish you had listened to me."

"Are you asking Max for protection money?" Buffy gaped at them. "What are you, the Sunnydale teenage Mafia?"

"Stay out of this, blondie," one of the boys said. He turned back to Max. "Who is she? Does she live here? Your daughter maybe? Maybe instead of roughing you up, we'll just take her for a little walk. What do you think?"

Before Buffy could respond, Max, who had obviously just spotted Spike striding up the sidewalk, said, "I think that's an _incredibly_ bad idea." He shook his head. "You can't even imagine what a bad idea that is."

"Guess we've found your weak spot," the boy crowed. He grabbed Buffy's arm and pulled her toward him "Let's go, baby. We'll bring you back when we're done playing." Buffy allowed him to pull her away from Max, then resisted and planted her feet.

"I don't think so," she said, shaking the boy's hand off with no effort. "And I think you need to leave Max alone."

"Yeah, right. We'll get right on that." He laughed and reached for her again, not having noticed how easily she'd broken his grip the first time. This time, Buffy took the hand he'd wrapped around her arm, removed it, and began to crush it. Not until he tried to pull away, did he realize that she was now holding him—painfully. He threw a punch at her with his free hand, only for her to block it easily.

"You shouldn't have done that," she said, shaking her head and raising an eyebrow at Spike who, unnoticed by the boys, was now standing only a few feet away.

"Why not?" Another boy stepped up and grabbed at Buffy's free arm.

"Because if you touch her again, I'll _kill_ you."

Spike's voice was cold as the grave when he lifted the boy into the air with one hand. He held him there long enough to see fear growing on the kid's rapidly-purpling face, then grinned and let his fangs show.

The boy whose hand Buffy had finally released looked back and forth between her and Spike, realization and fear fighting for dominance in his eyes as he cradled his damaged hand. Buffy had very obviously placed herself between him and his friends, blocking his path to freedom.

"What are you two?" he gasped.

The remaining three teenagers stared, not sure what to do. They hadn't noticed Buffy's ability to crush her attacker's hand, but they had seen how easily she blocked his punch, and they could all see that Spike was holding their other companion by the throat without seeming to exert any effort to it.

"We're friends of Max's," Buffy said. "And we don't want anything to happen to him or to his building. We really wouldn't like that."

"Are we making ourselves clear?" Spike asked, somewhat rhetorically as the boys were already nodding and apologizing and promising to stay far away.

Spike tossed the almost unconscious boy he'd been holding at his friends, and Buffy allowed her would-be attacker to retreat to where they were edging away. A guttural snarl from Spike was all it took to send them running as fast as they could while still supporting the one who couldn't stand up yet.

"Well, that worked out nicely," Max said with a smile. "Thank you so much—both of you."

Buffy shrugged. "You were right. Spike was a lot scarier than I was. I would have had to beat them up. All he had to do was look fangy." Buffy bent down and picked up her package. "Will you be all right now?"

Max nodded, gesturing at the car pulling in to the curb. "Yes, thank you. My friend is here, and I'm fairly certain those would-be thugs won't be back."

Spike cocked his head at Max. "None of my business, but I'm pretty sure you could have taken care of them yourself."

Max smiled and shrugged. "No doubt, but I prefer not to draw that kind of attention to myself if at all possible. Had they actually tried to damage the building, they would have found it more difficult than they expected, but that too could have attracted unnecessary attention to it. So, I appreciate the assistance. Let me know if I can ever return the favor." He waved and got into the car, which then pulled smoothly away from curb.

Spike threw an arm over Buffy's shoulder. "So, from what terrible fate did we save our landlord?"

"Those guys are wannabe criminals, I guess. They thought they could intimidate Max into paying them protection money to leave his building and tenants alone. He'd told them to forget it, so he knew they'd be back and looking for trouble." She smiled up at Spike. "He was really hoping you'd be here to escort him out. Didn't think I'd be scary enough."

"Little does he know." Spike gave an exaggerated shudder.

Buffy snorted and bumped him with her hip. "Well, I probably would have had to really hurt somebody, and he just wanted to scare them. Which is pretty nice of him when you think about it."

Spike nodded. "It is. He's an interesting guy. I'll bet Winnie would like to meet him."

Buffy shook her head. "He might, but the Watcher's Council could be just the kind of attention he's trying to avoid. As long as there's no sign that he's evil, I'm okay with letting him hide."

They followed the steps around and down to their own apartment. Buffy unlocked the door and walked in, dropping her stakes in a basket on top of her weapon chest.

"I'll wager we don't need to actually lock that door," Spike said. "Max probably has this building warded six ways to Sunday."

Buffy nodded. "Yeah, I'm pretty sure I saw him put a spell on the office door tonight. But we're going to lock our door anyway."

Spike shrugged out of his coat and dropped into a chair, TV remote in hand. He clicked it on and settled back to watch. Buffy settled beside him, snuggling into the arm he automatically put around her shoulders.

"How much time do you think we have?" he asked, muting the TV.

Buffy didn't pretend not to know what he was talking about. She sighed and snuggled in a little more.

"Not long, probably. Schools will open in two weeks and Dawn will be here by then. I guess Drac's going to show up first, but since he isn't going to get a taste of me this time—" Spike's snarling scoff made her smile as she raised her head. "—and I know where he's setting up house, I guess we can pay him a visit and send him home without all the drama."

"You might send him home. I'm thinking turn him into dust for touching you."

"Could you? I mean, not that you _couldn't_ , but I staked him three times and he still kept putting himself back together."

"You're prob'ly right, love. He's got all those gypsy tricks going for him. And he's a lot older than I am. I'd like to think I could, but who knows?"

"I don't think we'll need to worry about it. He might leave once he realizes I already have a vamp in my life."

"He will if he knows what's good for him," Spike growled, tightening his arm on her.

"We need to think about the other stuff that happened this year," she said. "Obviously, the big thing is that Dawn's going to be here sometime soon." She frowned up at him. "Do you think we'll remember that she just got here? How is that going to work? We have to know we need to stop Glory, without going through all the finding out stuff." She winced. "And, preferably, without letting her put me through that brick wall. That _hurt!"_

"If we can remember when that happened, maybe you could scamper off with the glowing ball of energy and take it home without fighting with the bitch?"

"And just let her torture that poor old monk to death?"

He stroked her hair. "Could be he was always fated to die at her hand, love. We can try to get there earlier, and prevent the torture, but you need to be ready to accept that his death may be one of those things we can't change. I mean, if it was going to be that easy, you could just give her a few whacks with that hammer and…."

"We don't have the hammer yet," she said. "I can't remember when Anya's ex showed up, but it was after Glory got here." She frowned. "I think my mom faints for the first time pretty soon too." She leaned back and shut her eyes. "This whole year really sucked, right from the beginning, didn't it?"

"It wasn't a picnic, that's for bloody sure. But we know what to worry about, what to avoid. We're going to beat it, love. Not just her royal sluttiness, but all the things that went wrong."

"What if we forget? What if the spells this year affect us just like they did back then?"

"Then we'll deal with it until we work it out. Glory's hiding in plain sight spell didn't work on me anyway, so I'm ahead of the game there."

"And Dawn?"

"Already got our memories of her, haven't we? What are the monks gonna do, erase them and then replant? We'll be just fine… but just in case, why don't we write ourselves notes?"

"Good idea." She got up and came back with a notebook and pen. "Let's just start listing the things we know are going to happen and try to decide which ones are worth trying to change."

"I didn't mean right this minute," he muttered. "I was looking forward to something a lot more exciting before we go to sleep." In spite of his words, he took the notebook and pen from her. "Start listing, love. I'll write."

 **XXX**

Getting rid of Dracula was surprisingly easy. When he appeared in the graveyard just as Buffy was disposing of the last vampire, he quickly noticed Spike leaning against a tombstone.

"William? What are you doing here? You cannot have this slayer. I have determined to make her one of my brides."

"Is that right, Slayer?" Spike said as he ambled toward them. "Have you been cheating on me with this poncy bastard?" He draped an arm over Buffy's shoulders and bared his teeth.

Dracula frowned and looked back and forth between them, sniffing.

"That's gross, you know," Buffy said. "That sniffing business. It's gross."

"This is not how this is supposed to go…." The old vampire seemed taken back by both Buffy's lack of interest in him, and Spike's apparent friendliness with her.

"Do you know who I am?" he demanded of Buffy.

"Yeah. I do. First time around, I was pretty impressed, but, FYI? I staked you anyway. Three times if I remember right. This time, I'm already spoken for and I have a hellgod to take care of, so you need to just pack up your dog pound castle and take yourself and your skanky little friends back to Romania or where ever. If I have to come looking for you, it'll be to burn that place to the ground with you in it. Got it?"

He gazed as her with open admiration. "You truly are as magnificent as I'd been told. You'd make a wonderful—"

"She makes a wonderful Slayer," Spike said, standing beside Buffy as she moved into a fighting stance. "I suggest you accept my word on that, and take yourself and your gypsy tricks out of here." He paused as if thinking. "Unless you've got that eleven pounds you owe me? If you wanted time to go fetch that—"

Dracula vanished as suddenly as he'd appeared.

"Thought that would drive him off," Spike muttered. "Cheap bastard that he is."

Buffy huffed. " _I_ couldn't scare him off, but owing you money did? What the hell?"

Spike laughed. "Probably a bit of both, love. You can check the dog pound tomorrow and follow up on your threat if it still looks like a castle."

"Do you think he caught what I said about the first time around?"

"He might have. I wouldn't worry about it. He probably bends time himself on occasion. If he did realize what you said and what it might mean, it would just be one more reason to get himself out of here. You did say you'd staked him. I'm sure he heard that part of it."

"I guess Xander doesn't get to be his flunky this time."

"Flunky? He made Harris a Renfield? Now that might have been worth seeing."

"He also bit me," Buffy snapped. "Did you want to see that too?"

Spike's snarl was deep and loud. "If I'd known that, I wouldn't have let him walk away."

"It was no biggie. He did a thrall, it worked for a little bit, then I woke up and made him dusty."

Spike was still growling and muttering about Euro-trash as they walked away.


	2. Chapter 2

**CHAPTER TWO**

"So, what do you think? Should we go through the whole year just so everybody knows everything? Or just worry about Glory and let the other stuff happen?" Buffy looked at Giles and Winston, holding her list in her hand. "I mean, some of it isn't going to happen anyway, because of stuff that's already changed. Like Drac for instance. I already sent him packing."

"Dracula?" Giles stuttered. "He's real?"

"Yeah. It was kind of a big deal in our time, but I was ready for him tonight and Spike was with me, so it didn't take us too long to convince him Sunnydale wasn't a good place to come looking for a date." She grinned at Giles. "I remember you seemed to be kinda into his brides, though. Sorry you're going to have to miss that this time around."

Spike laughed as Giles sputtered and coughed and demanded Buffy explain herself. When they both just kept laughing at him, he subsided with a "One of those things I'd rather not know, I suppose."

Winston had paid little attention to the byplay, frowning and seeming deep in thought. When he looked up, he said, "I was thinking perhaps I should tell you what happened in my time line, but I suspect it's pretty much the same as yours. Whatever changed—and it seems that it was Willow's keeping her My Will spell in effect—has already been changed now, so whatever else happens may be quite different from my memories. I suggest we just hear the highlights of the year. You can include interesting details, such as Rupert's experience with Dracula's brides—" He paused to smirk at Giles. "—if and when we need to hear them."

"Well, you already know the biggie. That's Dawn. She should be here pretty soon. Of course, we don't know if we're all going to be given those memories of her, or not. The fact that Spike and I already know her and how she got here, makes giving us those memories…. what's that word that means it doesn't matter?"

"Moot, love," Spike whispered.

"Yeah. That. Moot. We already have all our memories of how she got here, _and_ the ones of having her in our lives since she was born." She frowned. "Well, in _my_ life, since then. Spike didn't meet her until we made the truce to get rid of Angelus. Either way, we have all the memories we need."

"You also have your memories of learning what she really is," Winston said. "And you've shared them with us, so that's quite a twist there isn't it?"

"Reckon it depends on what happens to your memories once she gets here. Could be the spell is going to wipe what we've told you right out of your brains." Spike shrugged. "We're counting on it not happening to us, but we left ourselves notes about it just in case. Don't want to waste all that time once the bitch shows up not knowing what's really going on, do we?"

Giles nodded. "Leaving ourselves notes could save us a lot of time if Glory's spell wipes out our ability to remember what we already know from conversations about her." He got up and went to take a legal pad from his desk.

While Giles searched for a pen, Winston gazed at Buffy and Spike.

"What?" Spike challenged.

Winston sighed and shook his head. "I was just thinking this is the real beginning, isn't it? Whatever you accomplish this year will change all our futures, mine included."

"Not having second thoughts about that, are you?" Spike had unconsciously moved closer to Buffy as if to protect her from Winston, who shook his head again, more vigorously this time.

"No, of course not. I came back here to assist you both with your mission. I understood going in that it would also change my experiences. It's just suddenly hit home that the time is now."

Giles sat down and poised his pen. "I think we'll need as many notes as we can manage to keep safe, perhaps in several different places," he said. "The first one might be a note to ourselves"—he gestured between himself and Winston— "suggesting we immediately work a general spell cancellation spell to eliminate our inability to see Glory in her human form. No matter how often we read our notes—" He paused when Spike growled. "Or how often Spike, who said only humans were affected by it, tells us Glory shares a body with… a doctor?" He waited for Buffy and Spike to nod their confirmation before continuing, "No matter how often he tells us they're the same two entities sharing one human body, it will be much easier to grasp if we can see it for ourselves."

"Good idea, Rupert. A sheet of that paper for me, if you wouldn't mind?" Winston reached for the tablet and began his own list. "What else do you think we need to know?" he asked, looking back and forth between Buffy and Spike.

"Well, for starters, I'm going to try to save that night watchman before Glory brainsucks him. And then—"

"And then you're going to scarper away with him, while I try to distract her from torturing the poor old man to death."

"You're not taking her on without me!"

"I thought you weren't happy about being smashed through that wall?"

"I won't be happy if you get smashed either!"

"I'm not as smashable as you are," he argued back.

When they appeared heading for a slayer-vampire standoff, Giles spoke up.

"Would either of you care to fill us in?"

Buffy gave a quick recap of her first meeting with Glory and how poorly it went for her and the monk who was apparently responsible for getting the Key into her possession. And the brain-sucked night watchman who had actually given her the orb and from whom Glory obtained that information.

"Was the monk already dead when you found him?"

Buffy sighed. "Pretty close, I guess. He died right after he told me about Dawn and insisted she didn't know she wasn't real and that I needed to remember that."

"Perhaps, Buffy," Giles said gently, "he was meant to die no matter what you do to try to prevent it."

"That's what I told her," Spike muttered, earning a glare from Buffy.

"Giles, she _tortured_ him to death. For nothing. I already had the Key. If I can get there before she starts on him…."

The men exchanged looks, then Spike shrugged. "I s'pose it could be worth a shot. Even if she shows up before we can get him out of there, she'll have a harder time against the two of us."

"How will you know when to be there?" Giles asked with a frown.

"As soon as I stake the vamp that drops the glowing thingie, I'll know she's around and looking for the monk. I guess I'll just stake out that warehouse…" At the raised eyebrows, she glared and said, "It's a work-in-progress idea, all right?" She stopped and shared a look with Spike, then heaved a sigh.

"It won't be for another week or so anyway. More importantly, right now, I need to convince my mom to see a doctor because she has a brain tumor, without actually telling her she has a brain tumor."

"Dear lord!" Giles said. "Is that what killed her in your time?"

Buffy shook her head. "No, the tumor wasn't malignant and the surgery went as well as brain surgery can go, I guess. It was a sudden aneurysm way after we stopped worrying about her that killed her. But if she gets the surgery earlier…. I don't know. Maybe they won't have to do as much, and maybe she won't…."

"If there's a way to stop it, we will," Spike growled. "Could just be as simple as convincing the doctor to monitor her with MRIs every week."

"And perhaps," Winston said gently. "It's is just her time. You must be prepared to accept that, Buffy, and not allow it to distract you from your primary mission."

Buffy glared at him. "Is this your idea of being helpful to me? Cause I've got to tell you, it sucks."

"I'm sorry. I didn't mean that I wouldn't be happy to assist you in any way to maintain your mother's health. That's not what I meant at all. I simply wanted to remind you that experience so far has shown us that, while you have changed some things, others have still occurred, if perhaps in not quite the same way they did in your timeline. And I don't want you to be thrown off your game, so to speak, by having perhaps unrealistic hopes dashed."

He sat back and waited for her reaction. To no one's surprise at this point, she turned to Spike for reassurance. He wrapped his arms around her and murmured to her softly for a few seconds. Buffy nodded her head against his shoulder, then pulled away from him with a sigh.

Facing Winston and Giles again, she said, "I get it. I do. It's just that walking into the living room and finding my mom—" She gave herself a full body shake. "I lived through it once, I can do it again. But I'm not giving up without a fight."

"Nor would we expect any less of you," Giles said. "Until we have to worry that Glory is here and seeking the Key, I want you to concentrate on your mother. As she knows you are from her future, I suspect she'll be quite willing to follow your advice about her health. Perhaps even without your having to be specific."

"I hope so. The doctor said he had told her an aneurysm was possible, but the way it happened, there would have been no warning signs and no time for her to realize what was happening. Just boom!" She signed. "He said even if I'd been there, I probably couldn't have done anything."

"And the surgery was absolutely necessary, even though it was a non-malignant tumor, is that correct?" Something in Winston's demeanor caused Spike to sit up and focus on him intently while Buffy responded.

"Well, yeah. I mean the headaches are already getting really bad and she passed out once, so it's already pressing on her brain. And it's killing her—just, you know, slower and more painfully."

Giles and Spike fixed Winston with identical hard glares. Spike spoke first.

"Don't even mention it unless you're bloody sure you can," he growled, as Giles began to speak.

"Is it possible?" Giles asked. "Are you that adept?"

Buffy looked back and forth between them, then at Winston. "Are they talking about what I think they are? Can you cure my mom? Without surgery?"

Winston sighed and shrugged. "If the tumor is truly non-malignant and therefore not seeding cancer cells elsewhere in her body, I should be able to either shrink it away or remove it completely without doing anything more invasive than touching her head for a few moments."

"Wow." Buffy sat back and looked at him with new respect. "Why aren't you a doctor if you can do stuff like that?"

He gave a soft laugh. "For those of us not born to be healers, it is very difficult and requires a great deal of magical energy—even for someone like me. I can't imagine doing it very often. I'd be useless for months after the first few times." He sighed. "And putting your hands on someone to cure them is asking for more publicity than anyone in my line of work would care to have."

Buffy frowned, remembering Max and his reluctance to openly use magic to protect himself or the building. She put the comparisons between Max and Winston in the back of her mind to wonder about later and asked, "Is that what people who claim they can cure people do? I thought they were all fakes."

"Most of them assuredly are fakes. However, it's likely one or two are actually magical healers who don't understand _why_ they can cure things, only that they often can." He smiled at Buffy. "I'm _not_ a healer. That is not my area of expertise at all. However, I _am_ familiar enough with the techniques, and…." He paused and stared around at his audience. Buffy was smiling at him hopefully, Spike was studying him with a gaze both curious and alert, and Giles's narrowed eyes indicated he was beginning to suspect what Winston's area of expertise might be.

He sighed and began again. "I'm not a healer," he repeated. "However, I do have a rather large amount of magic at my disposal, and shrinking a tumor is well within my capabilities. Only you can tell me if your mother is likely to be willing to let me try."

"I'll _make/_ her willing!" Buffy said.

 **XXX**

"Do you want me to come with you, love?" Spike played with Buffy's fingers as they relaxed on the couch.

"To talk to Mom?" She shrugged. "I don't know. She likes you, just like she did in our time, but, I dunno. I feel like it needs to be a private conversation. And I don't know how I'm going to do that if Dawn's around."

"Ah, that's right. She'll be back in our lives any day now."

"Yep. One annoying little sister who's also a thousand-year-old key, coming up."

"Better get our shaggin' in now, yeah?" he said, kissing the fingers he was still holding.

"What?"

"You know she's going to be a pain in the arse about all this. She'll never leave me alone with you."

Buffy snorted. "You might be right. We'll see I guess. She'll either have just as big a crush on you as she did in our time, or… she might think you're boring because you aren't the Big Bad anymore and her sister lives with you."

"Either way…." He began to nibble on her neck.

Buffy giggled and tilted her head to give him more access. "If you wanted to go to bed, all you had to do was say so. You didn't have to blame your constant state of horniness on Dawn."

"Can I blame it on you?" he said, standing up and pulling her with him. He scooped her up and carried her to the bedroom, sucking on her neck the entire way.

"Are you about to pull my blood out through my skin again?" Although her words were complaining, her accelerated breathing and the accompanying humming sound in her throat, put the lie to it.

"If I did, would you be brassed off? It didn't hurt you much before, did it?"

"I can't remember… I think I was usually sort of… involved… at the time."

"Could get all involved like that again," he said, pulling her shirt over her head.

"Mmmmm…." Buffy dropped her arms and slid them under his shirt. "Let's get naked and then we can talk about it."

"And that's why I love you," he said, unfastening her bra and taking one nipple in his mouth. "I will never get tired of the taste of your skin," he mumbled. "Never."

"Promise me?" Buffy said pulling him down on top of her as she fell onto the bed. He paused his sucking to frown down at her.

"I mean it, Buffy. You know I do."

"Yeah, but what if everything's changed after Glory's gone? If I don't die, I don't come back all depresso-girl, and maybe I won't need to go to you all the time. And maybe I won't— and then we won't…. and you won't know what my skin tastes like."

He rolled off to lie beside her, using his free arm to pull her over so he could gaze into her worried eyes.

Maybe not," he said. "We've always known that was a possibility." He touched her face with one hand. "I can't imagine it happening to us… to me. Maybe _you'll_ forget I was ever anything but extra muscle for fighting Glory, but I can't believe _I_ will. If nothing else, those little sips of your blood I get from time to time are part of me now. Your blood will call to me no matter if I remember how or why I got to taste it."

"I hope you're right. I think that needs to go on our lists. That I should let you taste my blood if you want to."

He snorted. "Right. I can feel that stake going through my heart already."

"I'll be sure to remind myself not to stake you if you ask to taste my blood. And anyway, you've got the Gem, so it won't kill you." She began to unbuckle his belt. "Now, weren't we about to get so involved that I won't notice it when you do?"


	3. Chapter 3

**CHAPTER THREE**

Dawn slipped into life in Sunnydale with even less difficulty than she had in Buffy's time. Aside from Winston and Giles, Buffy and Spike had agreed not to tell anyone about her real origin until it was necessary. Buffy had been able to mitigate some of the yelling and resentment between herself and Dawn this time around simply by not being in the same house as often, and by biting back the urge to snap at her "sister". It didn't always work, sibling rivalry being what it is, but she was able to keep the fighting to a minimum.

Since she had some idea how long after Dawn's arrival she had been given the Dagon's Sphere, she was prepared for the big vampire when he attacked a few days later.

She staked the more-powerful-than-normal vamp and waited patiently for the night watchman to bring her the glowing orb. With a smile of thanks, she turned to leave, suggesting that he "take care and watch out for strange people". Telling herself that was the best she could do in terms of warning him just then, she walked off at a brisk pace.

Spike caught up with her as soon as they were out of the watchman's sight.

"So that's what brought us the Bit, huh?" he said, eyeing the glowing globe of light.

"Not exactly. Turned out it was some sort of protection thingie that came with her. A talisman or something against Glory. Didn't help me much, if I remember right. Doesn't look like much protection to me, but then, Dawn doesn't look much like a key." She tucked the orb into her jacket pocket and glanced at him. "So, did you see anything?"

He shook his head. "There was nobody in the building yet. No monks, no under-dressed, slaggy hell-gods. Just dust and rats."

"Okay then. Let's get this home and put away somewhere until I can give it to Giles and tell him what it is. I guess we'll start staking out the warehouse tomorrow."

"Sounds like a plan, love. Take the Bit's protection home so we can be sure it's where it needs to be, then we can hit a few cemeteries on the way to our place."

"I wonder if I should've told Mom about Dawn ahead of time?" Buffy worried as they approached Revello Drive. "Do you think she would have wanted to know?"

"Chances are, if you had, she'd have forgotten all about it as soon as that spell kicked in. Just let it play out, Slayer. I was just worried we wouldn't have _our_ memories of how she got here and we'd lose precious time learning the hard way."

"That's why we have our notes," Buffy said. "We just need to read them every day to make sure we aren't forgetting important things that we already know."

"Bit's arrival was the first really big test that's come up. I think, since we seem to have made it through this with all our memories intact, everything else should fall into place. I'm a lot more comfortable about the rest of the year now that I know we woke up the day she got here, not just knowing you _have_ a little sister, but knowing where and how she came from and why we know that."

"Well, that and that Glory and Ben are the same person. Even if you forget it, you won't have any trouble knowing about it once you see it, but who knows about the rest of us?"

"The watchers are planning some sort of "cancel all spells" spell, aren't they? As long as they read their own notes and do the spell, we shouldn't have to be in the dark very long."

They didn't stay long at the Summers house as Dawn was already asleep and Joyce was on her way to bed. Buffy assured her everything was fine, she just needed to find something in her room. If the hug goodnight she gave her mother was stronger than normal, Joyce didn't mention it, but her expression was thoughtful, and Buffy made a note to herself that she needed to tell Joyce soon about the tumor and what Winston said he could do about it.

Buffy put the orb in her closet, snickering to herself that Dawn would be happy to have a reason to go into Buffy's closet, where she so often went to borrow things. She grabbed a random jacket to prove she'd really been looking for something, and ran downstairs, shouting a "Night, Mom!" at Joyce's door as she did so.

A quick patrol of the cemeteries between Joyce's and their apartment turned up a larger number of vampires than they'd seen all summer.

"Guess vacation's over and I can stop worrying about being rusty," Buffy quipped as she waded into a small group standing around a new grave. "It's kinda sweet that you wanted to wait for your buddy to crawl out, but not really very smart," she said, dusting the first two she encountered. The remaining vamps only had to time to begin their confused "Huh?"s before she turned them to dust. She waited, hands on hips, for the dirt to begin to erupt, then grabbed the emerging vampire's arm and yanked him out.

"Hold on, pet," Spike said, flicking away the cigarette he'd been smoking while he waited for her. "I think we know this one."

He walked up and looked the bewildered fledgling in the face, then cocked his head at Buffy who was still holding on to the vampire's arm.

"Isn't this the wanker we have to rescue the Bit from next year?"

Buffy frowned and pulled the teenager closer, staring at him as he tried to pull out of her grip.

"Yeah. I think it is. He looks a little different in his funeral suit, but put a letter jacket on him and…. Yeah. It's him. Dawn staked him with a pencil," Buffy said with sisterly pride.

"So, what do we do with him? Leave him to get older and smarter and count on already knowing where they'll be on Halloween next year? Or do for him now, and save ourselves some worry if things don't go the same way?"

"Oh, wow. More decisions. It really is starting again, isn't it?"

"All things considered, love, one vamp more or less probably isn't going to make a difference. If we can eliminate the hell bitch, things next year are going to be completely different anyway. If we need to, we can explain to Niblet how to tell what a bloke is before she goes anywhere with him."

"That makes sense," Buffy agreed, nodding. "Sorry, guy. Guess you don't get to date my sister." She plunged her stake into his chest while he was visibly trying to figure out what she was talking about.

"Job well done, pet. I'm ready to go home anytime you are."

"I guess we should get some rest. Tomorrow night might be harder work than this was. And I need to get out there in the day time, too. Glory doesn't have to wait till it's dark to do stuff."

He frowned and put one arm around her. "Neither do I, remember? Can't it wait until I'm through helping Clem move his furniture? I'm not too fond of the idea you might run into her when I'm not there."

"You weren't there before and I held my own," Buffy huffed shaking off his arm.

"She put you through a wall," he retaliated.

"Spike! I can't wait for you to come with me. Going there in daytime is my best chance to find the monk before she does. If I can get him out of there before she gets there, I won't have to fight her. I can just send him off someplace safe and—"

"And where might that be, Slayer? If she followed him here, then she must know where he came from."

"I'm going, Spike. Get over it. If I don't find him, I'll come back and get you and we'll stake it out together." His only response was a loud snarl.

The walk back to their apartment took place in tense silence. A silence that lasted until after Buffy had gone to bed by herself, leaving Spike to fume on the couch and pretend to watch TV. After an hour of changing channels every five minutes, he threw the remote onto the chair and stood up.

He slipped into bed as quietly as he could, lying on his back and staring at the ceiling for several minutes. With a sigh, he rolled toward Buffy and put his arm around her waist, pulling her rigid back against his chest. He knew she was awake as he murmured in her ear.

"I'm sorry, love. I just… it's going to be bloody hard if I end up losing you this year no matter what we do. Not ready for it to happen quite this soon." She softened against him, but didn't speak as he continued, "We've got so much more to look forward to yet. Trolls in the Bronze, heartbroken robots, railroad massacres, chainin' you up in my crypt, disinvites from the house, a Buffy sexbot…." He could feel her begin to twitch as she tried to smother her giggles.

"Ah, there she is. My forgiving little slayer.'

"You are such an ass." She turned in his arms and gazed up at him.

"Guilty as charged," he said, kissing her nose. "Am I forgiven, then?"

She sighed. "Of course, you are. I'm sorry too. I know you're just trying to keep me in one piece long enough to get rid of Glory. But you can't try to tell me how to do my job. It pisses me off."

"Duly noted, love."

Buffy smothered a yawn as she cuddled into him. "Is it okay if we save the make-up sex till tomorrow? I really need to get some sleep."

"Tomorrow it is. Gonna hold you to that."

 **XXXX**

Buffy's checking the warehouse in the daytime proved to be a good plan. If good meant that she was interrupting Glory in the process of torturing the monk and preventing her from brain-sucking the watchman. Buffy's earlier look into the building had shown her nothing, but this one in the late afternoon was more productive. She sent Spike a quick text message before going into the building.

Buffy entered though the twisted metal that was the door Glory had broken through to get to the monk. Although he seemed a bit the worse for wear, he didn't look as near death as he had in her time. Buffy glanced around, but saw no sign of Glory, so she quickly snapped the chains holding her as yet un-brain-sucked prisoner and told him to go home. He nodded vigorously. After having spent some time in Glory's presence, he showed no surprise at Buffy's ability to break metal chains.

As soon as he'd left, Buffy ran to untie the monk. She cringed at his battered face and one shut eye.

"Are you okay? I mean, obviously, not okay, okay, but you're not dying, are you?"

He shook his head, wincing as he did so. "The Beast has not yet become enraged enough to kill me, in spite of my pleading for death."

"Well, let's get you out of here. We can worry about Glory later. Since I've got you, and the watchman guy is out of her clutches before she can brain suck him, she won't know that I have the—"

"What are you doing here?" Glory's shriek almost hurt Buffy's ears. She sighed as she stood up and faced the furious hellgod.

"What's it _look_ like I'm doing? I'm saving him from you, you stupid bitch."

"I _need_ him," Glory snarled. "He knows where my key is."

"You can't have him." Buffy pushed the monk toward the door. "Go on, get out of here. Go back to Europe or something."

Moving much faster than Buffy had remembered she could, Glory grabbed the man's arm as he hobbled toward the opening and yanked him back into the room so hard he hit the wall headfirst and fell to the floor where he remained immobile and bleeding.

"Now look what you made me do!" She glared at Buffy. "I can't get information from him in that condition."

Buffy looked at the inert man and saw that he wasn't breathing. Anger that she hadn't been able to save his life fueled the attack she launched at Glory and for a few moments she thought she was winning the fight. Until Glory threw her off and into the very wall Buffy had hoped to avoid.

Knowing Spike was on his way, Buffy staggered to her feet and prepared to go back into the fight. But, with another scream, Glory began to shake all over until she was gone and Ben was standing there, clutching the remains of the dress to his body and staring around in horror. He looked from Buffy to the dead monk, then, with a moan, ran out the door and into the still-sunny afternoon.

With a moan of her own, Buffy slumped down, her back against the damaged wall and with the dead monk at her feet.

She was still sitting there when Spike ran in, having made his way from the basement into which he'd broken and up to the room Buffy had told him he would find her. He stared around at the dead monk, broken chains, and wall with the Buffy-sized dent in it, then began swearing in several languages.

"Where is she?" he demanded eventually.

"She turned into Ben and ran out. You missed him—" She waved a hand at the darkening windows. "I should have tried to stall him, I guess."

Spike didn't say anything about her apparent assumption that had he been there, he would have killed Ben immediately, and Buffy didn't pursue the thought, just moaned and tried to sit up straighter.

"Bloody buggerin' fuck!" he muttered as he knelt beside her. "Are you alright, love? Looks like meeting that wall was one of those things we can't change."

"Looks like," she agreed. She pointed to the dead monk. "And I couldn't save him, but I think I spared him a couple more hours of torture."

"You did. Never doubt it, Slayer." He stood up and held out his hand. "Let's get you out of here and cleaned up. I think you've done your share of good deeds today."

 **XXX**

Given Buffy's physical state, and the darkness now falling, they opted to go back to their apartment to patch her up before they saw anyone else. She didn't want her mother to see her looking so beat up, nor did she want to have to explain how it happened. By the time they reached their street, Buffy was limping less and she smiled when she caught the relief on Spike's face.

"I'll be fine," she said, giving his arm a squeeze.

"She hurt you," he growled, his eyes flashing amber.

"Something's always trying to hurt me," she said. "Sometimes they get lucky. Seems to me it might have been you once or twice."

"Don't remind me," he replied.

"Well, you never managed to do me in. If you hadn't been wearing the Gem the first time around, I would have staked you. I did, you know."

"You did. But I knew I had the Gem on, so I wasn't really worried about it. Wouldn't have been that easy, if I was."

"Maybe," she muttered. "I guess that fight wouldn't even have happened come to think of it. It was broad daylight. I should have figured it out sooner and been more careful around you."

"Ah, Slayer. All those fond memories we have? They're what made us what we were. And got us to where we are now."

"Which is where, exactly?"

"Which is where I can take you into the shower and wash all the brick dust out of your hair," he said, brushing his hand through her ponytail.

"I can do that by brushing it," she pointed out. "And we won't be distracted by something that means we can't check in with Giles and Winston to see if they've read their notes yet."

"Bloody hell! I almost missed that. You saw Glory change and you remembered it. So, looks like we aren't going to be affected by her spell."

"And we remember why we aren't," she said with a nod. "So, now all we have to do is pretend we don't know what Dawn is until we have to tell her."

"And that. The Bit's pretty shrewd, you know. She's likely to see right through us." He held the door open for her, then glanced up in surprise to see Max approaching.

"Hi, Max," Buffy said, rubbing her face to remove some of the dust. "Do you need us for something?"

He looked back and forth between them, clearly taking in both Buffy's battered condition and Spike's much healthier looking one. He raised an eyebrow and Spike snarled, "I wasn't there yet. Daft bint didn't wait for me."

"None of my business," Max said quickly. "I just wanted to tell you…. I sense a… there may be a…." He stopped, obviously not sure how much he wanted to say.

Buffy and Spike exchanged glances, then nodded and smiled at him.

"I think you wanted to say there's a spell of some sort on everybody," Buffy said. "We know. I think it's going to go away soon. We're going to check on that as soon as I get cleaned up."

"Oh. Well good. You're on it, then. I wasn't sure you would be since it is so pervasive and powerful."

"Not affecting you, I s'pose?" Spike asked with a smile that didn't reach his eyes.

"It is not," Max replied tersely.

"Well that makes three of us," Buffy said. "And with a little luck, it will be gone soon—or most of it will, anyway."

Spike still looked suspicious. "Should we assume you are immune to any spells in effect now?"

Buffy's eyes widened as she realized that the fact that Ben and Glory were the same was not the only major spell in effect. She turned her own narrowed gaze onto Max, who backed up and held up his hands.

"I don't concern myself with what the spells do, but I can feel the disruption in the fabric of reality. That concerns me."

"Well, as soon as we can, at least one disruption will be cleared up. Thanks for the heads up." Buffy waved her hand and entered the apartment, leaving Spike and Max staring at each other.

"I don't even know what I don't know, isn't that right?"

Max shrugged. "I could say the same thing about you and Buffy," he said. "Shall we just agree that we are on the same side, and let it go at that?"

Spike snorted. "Don't know the Slayer very well yet, do you? She doesn't do 'let it go' worth a bloody fig."


	4. Chapter 4

**CHAPTER FOUR**

The short meeting with Giles and Winston went as well as it could have. They had read their own notes, but with the spell in effect, still couldn't wrap their minds around what removing a general spell could have to do with Glory. Even though Winston insisted he knew that he "knew" what they meant but just couldn't grasp it.

"Can't you just trust us on this?" Buffy asked. After a fruitless conversation during which she was really feeling the effects of her fight with Glory, she was getting a little impatient. "If you just do the damn general spell removal spell, then your notes will make sense." She stopped and bit her lip. "The only thing I don't…."

"It's going to have to be shared sooner or later, love," Spike said, immediately understanding her concern.

"Yeah, but _knowing_ where she came from isn't the same thing as losing all those memories of her from…"

Winston, who had also come from a future where Dawn's origin was part of his memories, interrupted.

"I wasn't affected by the spell," he said. "I mean, obviously I 'know' that you have a sister now, but I also know where and how she got here."

Giles frowned. "I would have assumed it was in the usual way. What am I missing?"

"Check your notes, Giles," Buffy said. She turned her gaze on Winston. "If you guys do a general removal spell, isn't that going to wipe out the one that makes everybody think Dawn has always been here? That could mess things up. Glory would know right away that Dawn was the Key."

Giles glanced up from where he'd been reading the notes he left himself about Dawn and her arrival. "If I'm understanding these notes correctly, that is a legitimate concern. However, if we do not do the spell, we won't believe that Glory's human host is a doctor here in town, and it wouldn't go well for Spike if he killed him."

" _I'll_ still know why he did it," Buffy said. "But yeah, right now, the only thing convincing you besides us, is your own note to yourself. Which you don't look like you believe."

"Winston still knows it, don't you?" Buffy frowned at him.

"I think I do," he said. "But only because I have my memories of being told about it years from now. Not because I wouldn't immediately forget I saw it just like anyone else. However," he added when Buffy's face fell. "I believe we can tweak the removal spell to make it specific to Glory's forgetting spell, leaving in place the much more powerful and all-encompassing one the monks managed to send along with the Key."

"Do it." Buffy looked back and forth between them. "Now might be good. Before she pops up somewhere again, or we run into Ben. Not that that's as likely to happen if Mom doesn't have to be in the hospital, but still…"

"Have you determined to let me remove the tumor, then?"

"Well, _I_ have, but I haven't really brought it up to Mom yet. I'm kinda hoping to catch her in the middle of a headache or something. But if it doesn't happen soon, I'm just going to have to sit her down and talk to her."

Winston nodded. "Whenever you're… or she is… ready. Just let me know. In the meantime, Rupert, we have a spell to work out and implement."

"And Buffy has bruises that need to heal," Spike said, rising to his feet and holding out his hand to help her up. "We'll catch up with you tomorrow night."

Giles frowned as he noticed for the first time Buffy's still somewhat disheveled appearance and the way she was limping.

"When you come back tomorrow evening, you're going to have to go into more detail about this first meeting with Glory. Something more enlightening than 'we fought, she changed and ran away'."

"Yeah, yeah. You'll get all the gory details tomorrow. I promise." Without looking back, she ducked under Spike's arm and out the door he was holding.

 **XXXX**

Buffy had already been watching Joyce closely, hoping to catch her with a headache to use as a conversation starter. She'd also been spending more time with her mom than she knew was normal for a girl the age she was pretending to be, and she hadn't been able to stop herself from frequent physical expressions of affection, particularly now that she knew Joyce was already having symptoms.

By the following evening, she hadn't yet caught Joyce at what seemed to be the right moment, when her mother took things out of her hands, ordering her to remain seated after a quiet dinner at her house. Dawn, whose presence in their lives hadn't been affected by the spell to remove Glory's protective glamor, was having dinner with her friend Janice, so it had just been Joyce, Buffy, and Spike. Buffy had been happy to accept Joyce's dinner invitation as she was still sore from her encounter with the wall.

"Spike, I'd like to speak to my daughter in private, if you don't mind?"

He frowned, but nodded and carried his mug to the kitchen. "I'll just go out in the garden and have a fag," he said as he opened the door.

Buffy smiled nervously at Joyce. "What's up, Mom?"

"That's exactly what I want to know," she said. "You're treating me like I was made of glass, and not that I don't appreciate the company, but it's not normal. What is it about my future that you aren't telling me?"

Buffy sighed. "I'm sorry, Mom. I should've known you'd see through me." She gazed at Joyce and said, "This is a big year for me—us—because the thing Spike and I were sent here to stop has already started. But it's not the only thing we want to change."

Joyce waited, her expression making it clear she had a pretty good idea what the other thing was. Buffy blinked back tears, causing her mother to reach out and stroke her hair.

"Just tell me, Buffy. Am I going to die?"

"Not if I can help it!" she blurted.

"And if you can't?" Joyce asked gently.

"I can! I will!" Buffy's lip pushed out in a stubborn pout only too familiar to her mother.

Joyce smiled at her. "Well, far be it from me to tell the Slayer she can't do something. Exactly how do you intend to do this? I'm guessing it has something to do with my headaches?"

Buffy sighed. "You're so smart," she muttered. "Okay, here's what happened in my time…."

They sat in silence for several moments after Buffy finished a detailed, if brief description of the events she'd lived through.

"So, if I'm understanding you correctly, it isn't the… tumor"—She waited for Buffy's nod— "that kills me. It's a much later random aneurysm?"

"We can't know if it was random. The surgeon did warn you it could happen, he just didn't think it would, or that it would kill you."

"And why is it you think you can prevent this perhaps-not-random event?"

"Okay, here's where it gets weird…" Joyce rolled her eyes and Buffy snickered. "Okay, I know weird is kind of a relative term when your daughter is a slayer from the future who lives with a vampire, but hear me out. You know Willow's a witch, right? We've talked about that. And you've heard me talk about Winston, the guy the Council sent back a few months after they sent me? Well, he's also a sort of witchy-magic-doing-sorcerer kind of guy, and he says he…"

When she'd finished, Buffy sat back and waited to hear what Joyce thought of the plan.

"So, instead of getting to a neurosurgeon immediately for surgery to remove a tumor he'll have to take my word for it is there, you want me to allow a stranger to use magic to remove the tumor without having to do any invasive surgery that might leave me in danger of having a ruptured artery near my brain?"

"Uh, yeah?"

"Does this miracle worker do this sort of thing all the time?"

"No. He's not a healer, just a really powerful magical something-or-other. But he says he can do it. If it really is benign, which it is."

"How do you know that?"

"From the biopsy after your surgery in our time. It's the tumor pressing on your brain that's causing the headaches and dizziness. So, if he can shrink it into nothing without having to cut any blood vessels, then there shouldn't be any weaknesses to worry about."

"I see. And what would my options be if I refuse to be 'magically healed'?" Joyce's air quotes made it obvious she wasn't convinced of anything yet.

"Then you'd have to have the surgery as soon as they can see the tumor on an MRI, and we'd have to convince the doctor he has to monitor you really closely from then on to see if the aneurysm is forming."

"And why is that not a good option?"

"Because, 'my daughter who came from the future says you have to do that', probably isn't going to fly very far."

"I suppose not," Joyce agreed with a sigh. "Just give me some time to think about this before I make a decision," she said. She shot Buffy a quick glance. "I do have some time to think about it, don't I?"

"Oh yeah. Not a whole lot, 'cause the earlier they find the tumor, the smaller it will be and the less dangerous to take it out. But you can take a few days to think about it."

"Do you trust this man who isn't a healer but says he can remove a brain tumor?"

Before Buffy could speak, Spike entered the room. "So far, he hasn't given us any reason not to, and I suspect we haven't even come close to seeing how powerful he is. You should really think about this, Joyce."

Joyce stared up at him. "You weren't part of Buffy's life then, were you? In your time?"

"Not like I am now, no. But you were kind to me, even after your daughter had me disinvited from your house for telling her I love her. And the Bit was already somebody I cared about. I like you. And I don't want to see either of your girls in that kind of pain again if we can do something to prevent it."

"I used Spike's crypt to hide you and Dawn from Glory. He helped me take care of you, and then helped me keep Dawn safe after you…. When we were all trying to get away from Glory." As she spoke, Buffy remembered that as of yet, Joyce had no idea where Dawn had come from or what she was. She exchanged glances with Spike and they tacitly agreed to save that information for another day.

"This Glory creature came after your family? That's unusual, isn't it?" Joyce was frowning.

"It is. Most of the things I have to fight wouldn't think about going after you or Dawn—or any of my friends, for that matter—"

Spike's coughed "Angelus" made her break off to glare at him. "I said _most_ ," she muttered with a credible growl. "Shut up, Spike."

He just grinned and said to Joyce," And there you have our relationship in our timeline. I'm trying to be helpful, and she's abusing me."

"Buffy?" Joyce looked back and forth between them, but they were both laughing, if a bit ruefully.

"If he keeps it up, you'll get to see for yourself, Mom," she replied, waving a fist at Spike. "Or I'll just turn him over to Glory."

"Why would she want him? Oh, never mind. I guess he'd make just as good a hostage as Dawn or me."

"He would now, for sure. But back then, he was just spending a lot of time with us and helping me out sometimes. He wasn't as much a part of my life as he wanted to be, but he was in it anyway, and her minions thought he was the Key she's looking for, so they captured him for her. When she figured out he wasn't, I guess she expected to be able to torture him into telling her where the Key was…. But he didn't tell." She smiled at Spike. "That's when I realized I really could trust him."

"So the relationship you have now…."

"Is the result of years of working our way through lots of bad stuff, some good stuff, more bad stuff, more good stuff….and then I thought he was gone forever." She paused to glare at Spike, who was very busy examining his fingernails. "But, he wasn't. After he saved the world with me, he—Well, you don't need to know all that, Mom. The whole point of us being here again is that we're going to keep all that bad stuff from happening."

Spike audibly scoffed and she glared at him until he sighed and nodded. "We're going to do what we can to prevent it. She's right about that. But we don't have any way of knowing what has to happen for some cosmic reason, and what doesn't. The things we wanted to fix last year got fixed eventually, but they didn't happen or work out the same way they did in our time, and they still happened in one fashion or another. Seems like our fixes were for the better, but bad things still happened. And so far, this year…."

"So, I might die anyway?" Joyce spoke softly, and only Spike could hear the faint quaver in her voice.

"Only if there's some big cosmic reason for it," he said firmly. "If it was just the Powers That Mess With People trying to see that Buffy's life was shitty enough that she'd throw herself off that tower—"

Joyce's "What?" was almost drowned out by Buffy's "Oh. My. God." She stared at Spike. "Because I _have_ to die. It was my time. It's meant to be."

"No!" he exploded. "If that's true, then all the rest of it is meant to be too, including the First Evil's rise when you're brought back. And this whole time trip is meaningless."

"It's not meaningless if it gives us some time together," Buffy said dully. "What if that's all it's about?"

While Joyce stared back and forth between them with frightened eyes, Spike went to his knees in front of Buffy and took her hands in his.

"Think about it, love. Do you really think the Powers care a whit about our happiness? That they've manipulated all this just so we can catch up on our shagging? Be serious. All they care about is their bloody 'balance'. They get that balance whether you jump or not. It was your resurrection that let Evil loose, not your death. All we need to do is keep you alive, and the First Evil never has an excuse to rise up. And Willow never has to dive into the black magic to bring you back, so she won't try to end the world…"

He paused and Buffy rested her head on his. "Do you really think so?" she whispered. "Or are you just saying that so I won't think I have to die?"

Before Spike could answer, Joyce's voice cracked through the air. "One of you is going to tell me what the hell you're talking about or you aren't leaving this house!"

Buffy and Spike broke apart to stare at her.

"I'm not kidding, Buffy. You two are talking about dying as if it happens every day. I want to know what's going on."

"All right, Mom. I guess you've got a right to know…." Spike nodded his agreement.

"Why don't we move someplace more comfortable?" he said, gesturing toward the living room. "Then we can tell you exactly what it is we were sent back here to do."

When Buffy had finished her recitation of how the year had gone in her time, supplemented with muttering from Spike about what he could or should have done differently, Joyce sat in stunned silence, her eyes damp with unshed tears.

"Oh, my poor baby," she finally gasped out, pulling Buffy into a hug that lasted until they were both sniffling. As she pulled back, she said, "I'm not leaving you to face that alone! Where is this guy who thinks he can heal me without surgery?" She glared around the living room as if expecting Winston to materialize any second.

"It's okay, Mom. Really. I mean, it wasn't okay then, but we're going to fix it this time. Look how much is already different. There's still going to be… stuff… to deal with, but now I've got Spike, and we've got Winston who's here to help us take care of Glory. And if you never have to go to the hospital, then you and Dawn won't meet Ben, so I don't have to worry about that… We'll be fine. We just need to make sure you're going to stay healthy and the rest will be easy."

Buffy beamed at Joyce, missing Spike's frown but not her mother's skeptical expression.

"It will. You'll see. Or, maybe not _easy_ easy, but at least whatever happens, I won't be trying to handle it without my mother."


	5. Chapter 5

**CHAPTER FIVE**

Buffy was somewhat terse later that evening as she filled Giles in with more details on the previous afternoon's fight with Glory and how, even though it was somewhat different from what happened in her time, the monk still died and she still lost the fight.

"So, it wasn't quite the same, but the same things happened," she sighed, slumping in her chair.

 _"Some_ of the same things happened," Spike growled. "This time you didn't have to jump out a window to get away, and you got to see her change."

"Well, not much else changed." She shook herself. "Anyway, first I need to tell Winston about Mom." She turned her attention to him. **"** My mom's ready anytime you are."

"Wonderful, we'll set it up for some time tomorrow, if that's good for her."

"Maybe late afternoon? Or early evening? She's still going in to the gallery every day, so she won't want to miss too much work."

"That will be fine. Just tell me when. Did you want to do it at her home?"

"Hmmm. Let me ask her. Has to be either there or here at the Magic Box, I guess. Maybe at our apartment…." She remembered about Max and the wards she was sure he had on the building. "Okay, probably not there. She knows I live with Spike and that I'm old enough to be doing something like that, but that's not the same thing as seeing our tiny apartment and having her nose rubbed in it."

"Well, you'll let me know." Winston smiled at her and Buffy decided the small not-quite-a-lie for not using their apartment wasn't a bad thing to do. She switched her attention back to Giles, who volunteered his own apartment for the event. Buffy smiled her thanks, but then quickly went back to the problem of Glory.

"Did you do the spell yet? Did it work?"

Giles frowned even as he nodded. "We assume it did because I now have no difficulty remembering that Glory's human host is a doctor named Ben. However, as I've not had a chance to see her or him, nor to watch the transformation, I can't be absolutely sure."

"Well, if you believe us when we tell you Ben is Glory, then it must've worked. In our time, Spike tried to tell us, but nobody could understand him—or remember what he'd said."

"That must have been quite frustrating," Winston said, raising an eyebrow at Spike, who snorted.

"You might say that." Then he smirked. "On the other hand, I got so bloody tired of repeating myself, I traded my own headache for a healthy whack on Harris' head. Didn't make him hear what I was saying, but I felt better anyway."

While Buffy shook her head at him, Winston and Giles tried to smother smiles of agreement at Spike's having succumbed to the common urge to give Xander a whack on the head from time to time. There was a moment of quiet amusement among them before Giles recovered his worried mien.

"When you saw Ben run off, did you not try to stop him then?" he asked Buffy more gently than she might have expected from his words.

She sighed and shook her head. "No. I was expecting to have to fight for my life and I just sort of collapsed when she changed and I knew I wouldn't have to face her without my backup—"

"I was on my way!"

"I know that," Buffy said quickly. "I wasn't accusing you of slacking, just explaining why I didn't chase after Ben."

"Were you badly injured?" Winston asked, looking at her more closely. "You seemed to be more mobile yesterday."

"I've probably been hurt worse," Buffy said with an embarrassed shrug. "But I'm not sure when. Hard walls are… hard. I think I've just stiffened up." She waved away the discussion of her injuries. "The point is, Ben was gone by the time Spike got into the building, so he couldn't have done anything anyway."

"I believe what Rupert is actually asking is, were you prepared to permit Spike to do what has to be done had he arrived in time?" Winston gazed at Buffy, waiting patiently for her answer.

She exhaled a breath she hadn't been aware of holding and nodded. "I think so," she said slowly. "Watching her change, and seeing him run away like he knew what she'd done… that made it a lot easier to want him dead." She glanced at Spike, then at Giles and Winston. "I'm still not sure I could have done it," she said, "but I don't think I would have tried to stop it if one of you did it." She rather obviously included Winston in her assessment of potential executioners. Giles nodded when Winston raised no objection to being included, and Spike gave a small smile as if he'd just had something confirmed for him.

No one actually addressed the tacit admission that Winston's mission to help Buffy and Spike might include using his own, still-not-completely-understood talents to destroy Ben or Glory, but Buffy found herself quite happy that Willow would have some magical backup.

With nothing else left to talk about, they set a time for Joyce to come to Giles's so she could meet Winston, and they could proceed with his attempt to eliminate her tumor.

That done, Spike stood up and took Buffy's hand.

"If we're done here, I'm taking Buffy home to do some more healing of her own. She may look alright to you, but she isn't yet, and she needs another good long night's sleep while that amazing slayer healing does its job." When Giles appeared about to say something, Spike added, "I'll handle patrol for her tonight, Watcher. No need to get your knickers in a twist."

Giles cleared his throat and mumbled, "I was only going to ask Buffy how she was feeling, and I certainly hadn't planned to suggest she patrol if she didn't feel up to it."

"I'm fine," Buffy said, glaring at Spike and pulling her hand away from his. "I've patrolled lots more beat up than this."

"Not while I was around to do it for you," he snarled. "Don't be so bloody stubborn."

"I'm _fine!"_

Instead of replying, he poked her where he knew she had a big bruise from her encounter with the wall. She gasped, then retaliated with her own attack on him, which resulted in her being trapped against his chest, unable to move without causing herself more pain. She remained there, swearing vigorously, then relaxed and sighed. She looked up at him over her shoulder.

"Fine. You win. You shouldn't have been able to trap me like that."

"No, I shouldn't have. So, if I let you go, will you let me take you home and take care of you?"

Winston exchanged a look with Giles, then suggested gently, "That sounds like an excellent idea. Perhaps you can both forgo the patrolling tonight? I feel sure the normal vampire population won't increase by so many that you won't be able to knock it back down tomorrow."

"You're all against me, aren't you?" Buffy grumbled as Spike released his hold.

"We all love you," Spike corrected her.

"Winston doesn't love me," she said with a stubborn pout, even as she walked to the door. "He barely knows me."

"Fine. We can argue about that on the way home." Spike shook his head as he followed her out the door and pulled it shut behind him.

 **XXX**

The next evening, Joyce smiled nervously as Buffy introduced her to Winston, calling him someone they were all going to know in the future.

"I'm not sure I completely understand why or how you think you can help me, but these last several years of being the Slayer's mother have given me an unexpected ability to accept impossible things." She smiled at Buffy. "Not that I didn't already know what an amazing and wonderful daughter I had, but I really had no idea…"

"If it makes you feel any better," Winston said, "Buffy has been amazing those who actually know about slayers for even longer. She is a rather extraordinary young woman." He gave Joyce a gentle smile. "No doubt much of that is due to inherited genes and her upbringing."

Joyce flushed and relaxed enough to make Buffy roll her eyes, remembering how easily Winston had disarmed Xander with just a few words.

"I still say it's magic," Spike whispered in her ear.

"I don't care, as long as he can talk her into relaxing," she whispered back.

They watched in silence as Winston carefully explained to Joyce what he was going to do.

"Will it hurt?"

"I don't believe so. I've never seen anyone indicate they were uncomfortable while a healer had hands on them. I'm just going to touch your temples like—"

Spike's snarl caught everyone by surprise as he moved to Joyce's side, glaring at Winston with suddenly amber eyes.

"I'm not going to hurt her, Spike. I thought you were on board with this?" Winston frowned his confusion, but was careful to remove his hands as he stared at the protective vampire.

"Spike? What are you doing? He's just—oh my god!" Buffy's eyes got wide as she understood.

"What's wrong?" Joyce appeared ready to bolt out the door as Buffy and Spike flanked her.

"Buffy?" Winston looked away from Spike to the other protective super-powered person in the room. "What is the problem?"

Spike answered him. "That's exactly what the bitch does when she's sucking the sense out of someone. She puts her hands on either side of your head and she tries to yank your wits out to keep herself goin'."

"Do you know that from personal experience?"

"I do," he said shortly. "Seen it. She didn't try it on me, on account of I'm already dead. No human energy to be had. She was right brassed off about that until she decided to torture me for information. She did it to Tara later on, and she was able to tell Willow about it when she'd recovered. And we saw plenty of other people she'd brain-sucked once the renaissance fair rejects showed up."

"I see." Winston frowned and sat down. "You do trust me, do you not? I understand why you reacted as you did to my gesture, but it is, indeed, what I need to do. I don't expect my actions to cause Joyce any pain at all, and I will certainly not be trying to pull the tumor out. I'll need to rest my hands against her temples so I can visualize it and concentrate on making it shrink until it is gone."

Spike looked a little sheepish as he relaxed and his fangs disappeared. "Sorry," he muttered. "I might have over-reacted a bit. It was just a little too familiar looking."

"It's okay, Mom," Buffy said, giving Joyce a reassuring pat on her arm. "We're just reacting to the last time we saw somebody in that position. We're sorry, Winston. It won't happen again."

He stood back up and cautiously approached Joyce's chair. Buffy and Spike stepped away, and Spike put his arms around Buffy as she watched Winston carefully hold his hands just above Joyce's head. He closed his eyes and moved his hands around, never quite touching her, but stirring her hair with the small electrical current. He nodded his head, opened his eyes and met Joyce's gaze.

"I can see it," he said. "I'm ready if you are, Joyce."

She nodded, exchanging a quick look with Buffy, who smiled her reassurance. "All right, I'm ready. Let's get me cured so my daughter can stop treating me like I'm made of tissue paper."

Winston smiled, then closed his eyes again and rested his hands on Joyce's head, one on either side of where he'd sensed the tumor.

"You'll let me know if you're uncomfortable, won't you?" he asked. "I don't expect you to feel anything, but in case I'm wrong, please don't be a martyr about it."

"Don't worry," Joyce said with a wry twist to her mouth. "If you hurt me, I'll yell for my daughter… or her boyfriend."

Winston smiled and closed his eyes. "Now that you've thoroughly terrified me, I shall be even more careful." With no further conversation, he took a deep breath and, eyes still closed, pressed his hands a little more tightly against her head. "Ah, there you are," he whispered, seemingly to himself.

There was tense silence while Joyce remained still and Winston held his hands to her head, his eyes closed and a small frown of concentration furrowing his brow. Joyce made no sound for several minutes, then her eyes widened and she gave a small 'eep' of surprise. Winston immediately removed his hands, asking, "Was I hurting you?"

"No, no," Joyce said, flushing with embarrassment. "I'm sorry. I didn't mean to interrupt you, it's just that there was this sudden… relief of pressure that I hadn't even realized was there until it was gone."

Winston nodded, but kept his small frown. "I don't believe I have at all removed the tumor. Perhaps it has just shrunk so much that it's no longer noticeable to you. But it isn't gone yet, just much smaller."

"Well keep going, then!" Buffy said. "Don't stop now."

Joyce smiled at Buffy, then up at Winston, saying, "Yes, please do continue. You weren't hurting me, and even if you had been, feeling that sudden release of pressure would have been worth it. Just keep going until you've eliminated that little bastard!" She ignored Buffy's gasp at her language and sat up straighter. "Let's go again."

"Perhaps we should take a short break, in case Winston would like some refreshment?"

Buffy stared at Giles in surprise, not having noticed that he'd been watching Winston the whole time, looking for signs of fatigue. When he exchanged glances with Spike, who Buffy knew was monitoring Joyce, and it seemed, Winston's vital signs, she realized why he was interrupting. After getting a nod of agreement from Spike, Giles went to the kitchen and came back with a glass of ice water. He held it out to Winston, who took it with a grateful smile.

"Thank you, Rupert. This will be most welcome."

Buffy frowned at him. "You're tired already? I thought you were all mighty magic guy?"

"Buffy, if he needs to rest, we should let him rest!" Joyce glared at her daughter until Buffy looked away and shrugged.

"It's quite all right," Winston said, handing the empty glass back to Giles. "I'm sure it looks as if I haven't done anything strenuous, but, as I explained to you when we first spoke about this, I'm neither a trained nor a natural healer. This requires a great deal more effort and energy from me than say… my pausing Willow for a few minutes so we could have a short conversation. Healers are innately able to harness the power needed to help people. It is a gift they are born with. I don't have that gift. My talents lie… elsewhere."

Spike touched Buffy's arm and whispered in her ear that the mage's heartrate was going into dangerous territory. She glanced at him in surprise, then nodded.

"I'm sorry, Winston. No offense meant. I forgot about what you said about healing being so hard. Ignore me, please."

"No offense taken," he replied as he returned to Joyce's side. "Your priority at the moment is your mother's health. We all understand your anxiety and desire to make her better." He raised his hands and laid them against Joyce's head again. "Let's finish this 'bastard' off," he said with a smile at her.

Once again, they all waited and watched as he closed his eyes and began to concentrate. After a longer period of time, which had Spike frowning and moving toward him, he dropped his hands and sighed as he fell into a chair.

"I think that has it," he said. "I can't feel any trace of anything foreign in your head. Certainly nothing big enough to cause you any discomfort."

There was a moment of silence, then Buffy, who had run to hug her mother, threw herself at Winston and hugged him until he was gasping for air. "Thank you, thank you, thank you!" she said tearfully. "And sorry! Did I hurt you?" She dropped her arms and frowned anxiously at him.

"I'm fine," he said. "I'm sure my ribs will recover in their own time…."

Buffy was horrified until he smiled at her. "I'm joking, Buffy. You didn't really hurt me, just gave me new appreciation for oxygen… and admiration for Spike," he added as the vampire handed him a beer. He tipped the bottle toward Spike in thanks, then tilted it up and drank more than half of it before he paused for more air.

"So, am I cured?" Joyce asked.

"As far as I can tell, you are," Winston said. "I'll be sure to check in with you from time to time in case it tries to grow back, but I think I got it all."

"I think this calls for a celebration," Giles said. "I suggest we all take Joyce out to dinner at her favorite restaurant."

"Perhaps I'll join you some other time," Winston said, his fatigue clear in his voice. "I believe my time will be better spent sleeping…."

Before anyone else could move, Joyce was at his side. "Oh my God. Of course, you should rest. Rupert, don't you have a guest room where we can make Winston comfortable for the night? Where is it? Help me get him there. What else do you need? Another beer? More water? How about some food? I can fix you something here, I'm sure. Rupert? Buffy? Why are you just standing there?"

While the other, embarrassed, people were still not moving, Winston patted the hand Joyce had on his shoulder.

"I'm quite all right, Joyce. But thank you for your concern. Obviously, I have done the world a good turn by helping you remain in it a bit longer. I just need to return to my own flat where I can recover without disrupting anyone else's plans. And where I have the things I need to rebuild my strength."

He rose to his feet and squeezed Joyce's hand before it fell off his shoulder. He looked directly at Spike as he said, "I wouldn't, however, turn down an offer to drive me home. My car is just outside."

"Ready when you are," Spike said. He turned to Giles. "Buffy can call me when you know where you're going, and I'll meet you there after I get Winnie settled."

"You'll be all right?" Giles asked with a frown. Spike's obvious concern and desire to help seemed to have reinforced his own worries about how much healing Joyce might have drained Winston's power. Buffy knew he'd come to rely on the other man's presence, both as a peer of sorts, given his age and background, and as an obviously valuable potential ally in their quest to foil a hellgod.

"I'll be fine," Winston assured him as he stood up. He smiled as Joyce remained close, putting a timid hand on his arm. He patted her hand again, but gently removed it. "I really am fine. Just quite fatigued and a bit… drained. Give me a good night's sleep and I'll be right as rain by morning."

Joyce looked dubious, but when none of those more familiar with magic seemed to doubt him, she nodded. "Okay. I guess you know your own limitations. But I'll be checking up on you tomorrow!"

"I'll look forward to it." Winston smiled at her again, then turned to Spike. "Shall we go?"

Spike nodded and opened the door for him. "Call me in a bit, Buffy?"

"Okay. Take care of Winston. He's my hero!"


	6. Chapter 6

**CHAPTER SIX**

As they walked to Winston's rental car, he handed Spike the keys, saying, "I appreciate this. I know they mean well, but I really need to be alone just now."

Spike shrugged. "Self-healing isn't much of a group project," he agreed as they got into the small car. He started the engine and peered over at Winston. "You know your heart rate is almost off the charts," he said, not making it a question.

Winston shot him a surprised glance, then sighed. "Vampire hearing and senses. Stupid of me to forget what you are."

"Very stupid," Spike said without explanation, but with a low growl.

Winston gave a weary laugh.

"I can see your soul," he said. "Not to mention the aura that you and Buffy have when you're together. I'm not afraid of you."

"Touché," Spike snorted. "Nor should you be. At least not while I'm sure you're on our side."

Winston was lying back against the seat, eyes shut and head resting against it. "Do you know where I live?" he mumbled.

"Do. We'll be there shortly."

True to his word, Spike was soon parking the car in front of the small apartment building where Winston lived. He got out and ran around to the passenger side to offer his hand. To his surprise, Winston took the offered help and allowed Spike to pull him up and out of the vehicle.

"Can you walk?" Spike frowned when Winston swayed on his feet for a second.

"I think so…."

"Don't be a bloody martyr," Spiked snorted. "You've got super strong help—may as well use it." He put Winston's arm over his shoulder and wrapped the other arm around his waist. To an observer, it would appear that he was helping a good friend walk into the building, but in reality, Winston's feet were not touching the ground as Spike lifted him with one arm and carried him to the door.

"Do I need a key?" Spike asked when he paused at the main entrance.

Winston shook his head and wiggled his fingers at the door, which opened in front of them.

"First flat on the left," Winston said. "No key needed there either. It will recognize me."

The door to his apartment did open for them, but Spike came to a halt when he encountered the barrier and could go no farther.

"My apologies," Winston said as he dangled from Spike's arm, only his left hand and foot inside the apartment. "Please come in, Spike."

Entry completed, Spike asked, "Where do you want to go first? The loo, the couch, the kitchen, bedroom?" He stared around the rather plain rooms.

"Bed would be lovely," Winston said, trying to stand up. "Once I've had a few hours to rest, I'll be able to handle the rest myself."

"Alright, then." Spike half-carried him to the bedroom and left him standing by the bed. "You're sure you'll be alright if I leave?"

"I will. Thank you very much for your assistance. There is definitely something to be said for having friends with super strength."

"'Bout as much as could be said for having friends who can save the life of someone you care about," Spike responded. "All things considered, the Slayer and I owe you big time."

Winston, who had now fallen face down on the bed, raised one arm, waved it in dismissal, and let it flop back to the bed. "She's a nice woman and the Slayer's mother. It was worth it." He dropped his arm and was still except for the rise and fall of his back as he breathed.

Neither one mentioned the possibility that Joyce's death this year might be one of those had-to-happen things about which they could do nothing. Spike watched him for a moment, listening to his almost-back-to-normal heartrate and even breathing, then nodded.

"I'll just let myself out then. I'm guessing it isn't necessary to lock the doors?"

A muffled snort was the only response from the inert figure on the bed.

"Right then. Enjoy your nap."

Spike let himself out the door, watching as it shut itself behind him. He heard the lock click, but his tingling senses told him that little piece of metal wasn't the only thing preventing unwanted visitors from entering. He smiled to himself as he left the building, pulling the ringing phone from his pocket as he did so.

"Hello, love. Yes. I did and he's going to be fine. Safe as houses, trust me. Where did you decide to go? …. I know where it is. See you shortly."

 **XXX**

With Dawn having been picked up at home, dinner was an interesting mix of normal dinner conversation and less-than-normal discussion about Joyce's newly tumor-free condition. Although Joyce now understood—or had at least been told, understanding being something she wasn't willing to admit to yet—about Dawn's rather unusual origins, they had not yet told Dawn about them.

Which led to some interesting gaps in the conversation.

"So, this Glory thing, why do Mom and I have to be careful? Aren't you and Spike just going to kick her butt like you always do?"

"We wish," Buffy muttered, then she mustered a smile. "I'm sure we will, pretty soon, but in the meantime, she's really focused on learning where her Key is, and she's not above taking somebody I care about hostage in return for that information."

"Well, I don't see why you don't just give her the Key she wants. Then she can leave and we can all stop worrying about her."

"It's not that easy, Bit." Spike spoke up before Buffy could loudly remind Dawn that Glory's leaving through a portal to a hell dimension wasn't in anybody's best interest. "I know you were listening when we explained to everybody, including you, why we can't let her open that portal."

"Yeah, yeah, demons and dragons and stuff. I remember. I just don't see why this is my problem. This is Slayer and vampire stuff."

The adults at the table exchanged looks. Looks not lost on Dawn.

"Okay. What don't I know? And don't tell me I don't need to know it, or it's not important, or I'm not old enough or some crap like that!"

"Dawn! Language!" Joyce said into the silence.

Buffy bit her lip. "Since Mom isn't going into the hospital, maybe she'll never meet Ben, or the crazy mind-sucked knights…."

"What's a Ben? And why won't I meet him? That's a dorky name, so he can't be some cool guy you don't want me to date."

"What do you think, Mom? Giles? Is it too early to tell her? I mean we might be able to make the whole thing go away before there's really anything to worry about—"

Dawn narrowed her eyes. "This is all about future stuff, isn't it? Why can't I know what happened in your time? It's not like it's going to happen again…. Is it?"

"No!" Spike said, simultaneously with Joyce. "But that doesn't mean things couldn't go spectacularly wrong before we can get it sorted out."

"Tell me," Dawn said, her gaze darting back and forth between her mother and her sister.

"Not here, Bit," Spike said. "We can talk about it more when you get home. Maybe tomorrow…."

"Maybe tonight!' Dawn said, glaring at him.

"Slayer and I have patrolling to do tonight. We've already missed two nights in a row."

"Mom, you can tell me, can't you?"

Joyce shook her head. "I'm sorry, honey, but this needs to come from Buffy or Spike. They understand it better than I do."

Buffy stood up. "Spike's right. We need to patrol tonight. We'll explain it to you tomorrow. After school. I'll come by the house and we'll sit down and I'll explain it to you."

"I'll see that they get home safely," Giles said, standing up to watch them leave. He blinked in surprise when Spike handed him two twenty-dollar bills.

"We can pay our way," he said with a smirk. "That gem wasn't the only thing in that treasure trove."

"Ah, that's right. I'd forgotten you are now a vampire of means."

"Does that mean we're rich?" Buffy was asking as they waved their good-byes and began walking out.

"Means i _I'm/i_ rich, Slayer." He leered at her. "You'll have to earn your share."

"Really? Earn it how?" She batted her eyes at him. "Surely you don't mean to take advantage of me?"

"Every bloody chance I get," he growled. "Let's go find us some things to kill to get us in the mood."

"You're always in the mood," she laughed as she began jogging toward the closest cemetery.

"It's a gift," he replied, catching up easily.

 **XXXX**

"That does it! I think we've more than made up for missing the last couple of nights!" Buffy surveyed the dust lying all over the newly mown grass. "How many was that?"

"Ten in this group of wannabe big bads, and another ten scattered around less busy graveyards. A good night's work, Slayer."

Buffy giggled as they walked toward the entrance gate. By unspoken mutual agreement, they turned toward their home as soon as they were through it.

"What's so funny?"

"Oh, I'm just remembering from last time around. Maggie Walsh got all snotty about my 'pointy sticks' and then I asked Riley how many vamps his squad had done in. He was so proud of the five they had to show for the week. She wasn't too happy when I said I'd been getting that many a night since I was fifteen. You should've seen her face."

"I still see her face in my nightmares," he snorted. "But I wouldn't have minded being a fly on the wall for that conversation."

"I should have known from the way she reacted that she wasn't going to take it well that I was hanging around. Sneaky bitch."

"She's gone, Glory isn't." Spike said, pointing down the street where a couple of Glory's minions were staring at them.

"Do you think they know who I am?"

He shrugged. "Dunno. Depends on if she had time to fill them in. They weren't running around this early in our time, were they?"

"Not that I saw. But I was so worried about Mom and Dawn, I don't think I would have noticed if they weren't trying to attack one of us. Glory kind of disappeared for a little while after the semi hit her, and when she came back the little creeps were running all over the place. But we won't be hanging around the hospital this time, so maybe that won't happen and she'll get started looking for her key sooner."

By this time, Buffy and Spike were close enough to exchange looks with the strange little "men" in monk's robes. Buffy gave them her best "suspicious slayer" glare, and they all cringed, beginning to edge away.

"Slayer!" one of them hissed. "Glorificus said to stay away, that she might try to slay us."

"What did he say?" Buffy demanded of Spike, who had been able to hear the words.

"They know what you are, but not anything else. The bitch told them to avoid you."

"Good idea," she muttered. Raising her voice to carry to the rapidly leaving creatures, she said, "Stay the hell away from me, you little creeps!"

By the time she finished, they were all out of sight, and she and Spike continued walking.

"Got to say, pet, I'm a little surprised you didn't slay a few of them anyway."

Buffy shrugged. "Well, A, I don't have a sword with me, and that's really the best way to kill one, and, B, there's no sense pissing her off by killing her minions if she's trying to stay away from me. The less time she's around me and my friends, the less likely she is to learn about the Key."

"True enough. But sooner or later…."

"Yeah, I know. Sooner or later we have to face her. Or him. I'm just kind of hoping he/she comes to us. The idea of stalking a human, even one that's hiding a hellgod just isn't—"

"Not your style, love. I know that. But it is mine." When she glanced up at him, he went into his vampire mien and held it until she closed her eyes and sighed.

"I know. But sending i _you/i_ out to stalk Ben isn't exactly my style either."

"Got a feeling if either one of us doesn't do it, it's going to happen anyway. Not as sure about your watcher, yet, 'cause he hasn't experienced any of those things we have memories of. Obviously, by the time you had to take your dive, he was more than willing to do what had to be done, but that's a little too late to be useful."

"But you think Winston would?"

"I do. I think that's got as much to do with him being here as does helping us out. He's our backup muscle, and if we aren't getting the job done, he's prepared to do it." He snorted. "Maybe not tonight. But when he's back on his feet."

Buffy frowned. "Isn't he all right? Did curing my mom break him?"

"Nah. He's not broken. He's made of tougher stuff than that. But he's bloody weak physically right now, so got to figure his magic has gone walkabout for a bit. Didn't he say if he had to do healing all the time, he'd be worthless for months after more than two or three times? I expect it's going to be a week or more before he's going to be up to fighting off a hellgod."

"Well let's just hope we don't have to do it before he's feeling better. Which reminds me, Willow's been feeling a little out of the loop lately, so I think we need to have another Scooby meeting pretty soon and tell everybody that Glory's here and looking for her key."

"Not going to tell them about the Bit, are you?"

"Not unless we need to. If they don't know, they can't let it slip out accidentally. And if we can take care of Glory soon enough, they won't ever need to."

"Not sure that's a secret you're gonna be able to keep long-term, love, but agreed, there's no sense mentioning it until we have to."

Buffy nodded and waited from him to unlock the apartment door. Once they were safely inside and she'd dropped her stakes, she raised her arms and stretched. She could feel Spike watching her to see if she winced and she was careful to hide any sign that she might still be sore. To no avail, it seemed.

"Could sense that flinch you tried to hide, love. Where does it still hurt?"

"Stupid vampire senses," she muttered. "And nowhere, really. My back is just still a little bit stiff, that's all."

"Maybe you could use a nice backrub?" he said, putting his hands on her shoulders.

"Maybe so," she responded, leaning back into him. "Know any good massagers?"

"I think I could find one. He's a bit picky, though —only works on naked women…"

She spun around to face him, giving a mock glare. "I know you meant to say _one_ naked woman."

"Did. Abso-bloody-lutely I did."

"'K, then. Rub my back…. Please."

"Let's get you naked first, yeah?" He led her into their bedroom and began helping her out of her clothes, dropping kisses on the bare skin he uncovered.

"Aren't you afraid you'll get distracted?" she murmured, helping him slide her jeans off. "Or that I will?" she added with a little squeal when he knelt in front of her to pull off her panties with his teeth. He quickly added more kisses to the newly exposed flesh.

"Bloody well hope so," he growled, before lifting her onto the bed without removing his mouth from where it was now attached.

Surrendering to the inevitable postponement of her backrub, Buffy spread her legs and gave in to the sensations he was creating. Only when she was quivering in the boneless aftermath of a quick orgasm, did he lift his mouth and shed his own clothes. As he poised himself over her, he paused to meet her sated gaze.

"Would you rather have the back rub first?" he asked, running his cock up her well-lubricated labia, thereby contradicting his solicitous question.

Her response was to throw her legs around his hips and pull him down, until he could slide inside.

"Mmmmm," he purred, beginning to move his hips gently. "I'm going to take that as a no."

Raising her own hips to meet his gentle thrusts, Buffy smiled. "You're still gonna owe me that backrub," she said as they settled into a familiar, but still pleasingly erotic pattern.


	7. Chapter 7

**CHAPTER SEVEN**

They slept till almost noon, Buffy's growling stomach being what finally drove her to get up.

"Wow. It's a good thing neither one of us has a day job," she said as she headed for the bathroom. "We'd both be fired."

Spike waited until he heard the water running in the shower to get up and join her there. When he pulled back the curtain, her hair was already wet and she was holding out the bottle of shampoo.

"Do my hair?" she asked, turning her back and moving to make room for him behind her in the tub.

"Not exactly what I was planning to do," he muttered, as he took the bottle from her and obediently poured some into his palm.

"Hair first," she demanded. "Fun stuff later." She reached behind to stroke his semi-erect cock, sending it into fully awake and ready mode. Her giggle made him growl again, but he began to lather her hair while she teased him with light touches. She turned to face him, arching her back and tipping her head back under the running water to rinse out the shampoo. She then added conditioner and smiled at him.

"I guess that can sit there for a few minutes while we do fun stuff."

Without further discussion, she sank to her knees. "Hang on to something," she ordered and fastened her lips around the head of his cock. Spike gasped and braced himself on the wall while Buffy, water streaming down her back, sucked and licked him into a frenzy of mingled swearing and endearments. Grateful for super strength, she was able to hold him upright while he shouted his release. She still had her mouth on him and was still holding onto his hips when he recovered enough to pull her up into a tight embrace.

"Just when I think I couldn't possibly love you more than I already do…." he murmured into her neck.

"So, it was okay, huh?" she asked with another giggle.

"It was brilliant, and if I didn't know who taught you to be so good at it, I'd be looking for the man who did." He paused and snorted. "Not sure if I'd want to kill him or thank him."

She giggled again. "But you _do_ know who it was. He taught me lots of things."

"He did. I wonder how many of them we have time for before you have to go talk to Dawn and ruin her life?"

Buffy stopped giggling immediately. "Do you think that's what I'm going to be doing?"

"Ah, no, love. Probably not. I'm just remembering how poorly she reacted when she found out by herself from the watcher's books. It's going to be very different this time, and I'm going to try to be a bit more understanding."

"I wonder if you should be the one to tell her? I mean, you were with her when she found out."

He leaned her back under the stream of water to rinse the conditioner out of her hair.

"Maybe I should. Could give her a bit of perspective that this time she's getting a good explanation rather than having to depend on an old vamp to help her break into the watcher's books."

"Maybe…. It looks like she came with all those fake memories of already knowing you."

"No reason why she wouldn't, is there? It's what happened before." He held up the bath sponge and body wash. "Am I doing you, or are you doing me?"

"I already 'did' you," she snickered. "Must be my turn."

"You it is," he said, as he poured body wash onto the sponge and began to stroke her body. When he abandoned the sponge in favor of his soapy hands, Buffy grabbed it and began her own vigorous scrubbing of his back and every place else she could reach while still enjoying his attentions to her breasts and other parts. Which led to discovering that two wet, soapy, slippery people probably should not try to have standing up sex in a bathtub. The resulting goose egg on Buffy's head was only slightly smaller than the painful bruise on Spike's left hip.

"Ow!"

"Fuck!"

When they'd finished expressing their respective opinions of their bumps and bruises and somewhat untangled themselves from the awkward heap on the bottom of the tub, they began to laugh, resulting in more sliding around in the tub as they tried to rinse off while laughing too hard to stand up. By the time they finally had enough control to get to their knees and continue rinsing off, the water was growing cold, and Buffy scrambled out of the tub as soon as she felt suds-free.

She was drying herself off with a fluffy towel by the time Spike had turned the water off and stepped out.

"Well, that was a bit of a mood-killer," he grumbled, reaching for a towel of his own. "C'mere, let me get that," he added when Buffy began trying to dry her hair.

With his help, and another couple of towels, her hair was soon dry enough for Buffy to get dressed. She gave him a kiss of thanks, and went to put some clothes on and comb her damp hair. By the time Spike emerged wearing nothing but his jeans, Buffy was nursing a hot cup of tea and her breakfast was in the microwave. Seemingly very comfortable in the chilly apartment, he took some blood out of the fridge and poured it into his mug.

"Sometimes I envy you that lack of body temperature thing," she said, shivering in spite of the sweatshirt she was wearing.

"It has its perks," he agreed, waiting until she took her bacon/egg/cheese sandwich out of the microwave before putting his breakfast in there. He touched her neck with one hand, smiling ruefully when she recoiled. "But I'd rather be warm enough for you to want to touch."

Buffy glared at him. "Don't take this personally, but if you put that icy hand on me again, I'm going to break it."

He snorted, but moved away to take his warm blood from the microwave oven. He wrapped his hands around the mug for a moment, letting the heat seep into his skin before he began drinking. "This should help," he said. "Not as good as the real thing, hot from the tap, but…."

"On that disgusting note…." Buffy put her cup in the sink and went to finish dressing. She came out to find Spike sitting on the couch sipping his blood.

"I'm going to go check on Mom… and I guess I should look in on Winston?"

Spike shook his head. "He was pretty clear he wanted to be alone. Giles can call him if it seems necessary, but I think the man just needs to sleep for a couple of days. His vitals were almost back to normal by the time I left him yesterday, so I think he'll be fine."

He picked up the remote and turned on the TV. "I'll try to get there this afternoon in time to talk to the Bit. Might have to run an errand or two first, but I'll be there by the time she usually gets home."

Buffy nodded, then abruptly changed the subject.

"I don't think I'm going to tell Angel about Glory. Not unless it goes south and we need the backup. I don't think having more contact with him or anyone in LA is a good idea. I'm really kinda surprised he hasn't shown up here again."

"So am I, to be honest. I thought he'd be too brassed off and curious to stay away. But you're right, there's no sense poking the bear… so to speak." He frowned. "Were you thinkin' about calling him? You didn't do that the first time, did you?"

"I didn't, but I think Willow talked to somebody there, probably what's-her-name, Fred?"

"Fred. Nice bird. Bit nerdy like Red, but more into science than witchery."

"Oh yeah, you told me about her. Well, anyway, whatever she and Willow talked about, it didn't bring anybody from LA running up here, so I guess it's all right."

She walked over to him, smiling when he licked the blood off his lips in anticipation of the light kiss she brushed over them.

"Okay, I'm going to go see Mom. I'll see you later this afternoon. And then remember we have a Scooby meeting tonight. We need to be thinking about how much to tell Xander and Willow."

 **XXX**

Buffy was pleased to find her mother cleaning house and muttering about being at home when she had work to do at the gallery.

"Does that mean you feel okay?"

"I feel wonderful. I don't think I realized how lousy I'd been feeling until that pressure disappeared. I don't know how long it would have taken me to consult a doctor about the headaches."

"Too long," Buffy said shortly. "And too long before you let me know that you weren't feeling well." She shook her head. "And I probably wasn't home enough, so I didn't know –"

"You were supposed to be a college student. And you had Glory to worry about too."

"I still should have noticed you were sick," Buffy muttered. "I didn't handle the news very well when you finally told me."

"How did you find out?"

"Oh, I was out with Spike and–"

"I thought you weren't dating him in your time?" Joyce frowned.

"I wasn't. I was still with Riley. But I had a… an accident, and I needed to pick Spike's brain about how he killed the slayers he–"

"He _what?!"_

"It's who he was. William the Bloody, Slayer of Slayers. So, when I asked Giles what they'd done wrong, he said to ask somebody with experience. Spike had to turn it into a date at the Bronze." She bit her lip. "Of course, I didn't know then that he… liked me…" Buffy smiled when Joyce rolled her eyes. "Okay, I didn't know he was in love with me. So, I just thought he was being a pain in the ass about it."

She shook her head. "Anyway, it didn't end well, and I said something that really hurt him and then I came home, and you told me you had to go to the hospital for some 'tests' and I went out on the back steps and cried. And then Spike came in the yard with a shotgun in his hand, and he saw me crying, and sat down beside me and… he patted me on the back. It was weird."

"Shotgun?"

"Oh yeah, He was really, really mad at me… well, I guess he was really, really hurt, but I didn't figure that out till later. Anyway, he came there to shoot me, figuring he might have to pay for it with an exploding brain, but I'd be dead. Then he saw me crying and forgot he wanted to kill me."

"Kill you?" Joyce said weakly.

Buffy gave her a hug. "Remember what we said about our time, Mom? We've had some good times and some bad times. That night was kind of a mix of both. He didn't want to admit he wasn't the big bad so he made himself sound way more evil than he was, but then he tried to kiss me, and I–Well, never mind. That part was bad, and then he sat down and asked if he could help me, and… I dunno things started to change then, I guess."

"And now here you are—living with him"

"And now here I am. And just as much in love with him as he's always been with me. It took me a while, but I learned what he's really like and, yeah, I'm living with him."

"Well, I'm sure you know what you're doing," Joyce said doubtfully. "I do like Spike, I just… I had hoped for something… different for you. Aren't there any married slayers?"

Buffy shrugged. "In my own time? There might be a few, but now, when there's only 'one girl in all the world', I don't think so. Most slayers don't live this long, Mom. And I don't mean as long as I have now, I mean as long as the age I was now in my own time. One of the ones Spi–one slayer back in the 70's had a son, but I don't think she was married. When she died, her watcher raised her kid."

"Oh my."

"I'm sorry, Mom. I didn't mean to get you upset. I just had a flashback to how I felt when I finally found out there really was a reason for your headaches, and wishing I'd noticed them sooner. Didn't mean to take you on my little walk down memory lane."

"I'm an adult, Buffy. It would have been my responsibility to take care of my health, not yours."

Buffy stood up and shook her head. "When you're the Slayer, you get used to being the one who's responsible for everything. Rescuing people, saving the world every spring—it's hard for me to deal with things I can't control by beating them up or slaying them." She gave Joyce a wry grin. "It's probably a character flaw, but not one I can do much about."

Joyce shook her head. "There is so much about your life I don't understand…."

"Trust me, Mom, I'm still trying to figure it out myself," Buffy said, giving her mother a hug. "But you're way ahead of where you were back in my time, believe me."

 **XXX**

Dawn burst in the door much earlier than she normally would have.

"All right, I'm home. Now tell me whatever it is you've been trying to hide from me." She looked back and forth between Buffy and Joyce. "Well?"

"We're waiting for Spike to get here, honey. Why don't you put your stuff down and get a snack?"

"You're stalling me!"

"Nobody's stalling you," Buffy said with a sisterly glare. "We're waiting for Spike because in my time he was an important part of… of what we need to tell you, and he's not here yet. He had some errands to run this afternoon."

"Fine, Dawn muttered. "But I think you're stalling…." She threw her books and jacket on the stairs and went into the kitchen to rummage around for food.

Buffy rolled her eyes and sighed. "It's a good thing I'm older and more mature now," she whispered to Joyce. "I remember in my time we fought and screamed at each other all the time. And she hated that I was the Slayer."

"I think you're handling her beautifully," Joyce said, hiding a small smile.

Before Buffy could respond, she heard the kitchen door burst open and Dawn shriek in surprise. She followed Joyce to the kitchen and frowned when Spike threw a blanket on the floor.

"Where's your ring?"

He held up a finger. "I've got it, just thought it might be best not to advertise that I can get around in the daytime. The less her royal sluttiness knows about me, the more of a surprise weapon I'll be."

"Huh. That's actually a pretty good idea."

"I have my moments," he said, blowing her a kiss. "Are we ready to ruin the Bit's life yet?"

"Ruin my what?" Dawn glanced anxiously back and forth between the three adults, none of whom was smiling. "I changed my mind. I don't wanna know anything."

"Wish you had that choice, Niblet," Spike said, putting an arm around her. "But you don't. Best I can do is tell you this is gonna be a bloody picnic compared to how you found out the first time."

"You're scaring me," Dawn said, pulling away to stand by Joyce, who put her own protective arm around her.

"It's going to be okay, honey," Joyce reassured her. "But you do need to know this so you'll understand why you need to be careful."

"Careful about what?"

"Glory," Buffy said. "You have to be careful about Glory."

"Why?" Dawn's voice almost broke. "Why do _I_ have to be careful? Aren't you and Spike going to take care of her?"

"Let's go have a seat in the parlor and I'll tell you a story about something that happened in our time." Spike led the way back into the living room and waited until everyone was seated. He pulled a chair up to where Dawn was sitting on the couch and sat down, facing her.

"Let me tell you my story, then you can ask questions, alright?"

She nodded dubiously and watched him with an anxious expression.

"So, you know Glory's a hellgod, right? We haven't kept that from you. What you don't know, is that she wants to go home to her hell dimension, but to do that she needs a Key. Using that Key is a bit of a one-time thing, yeah? She uses it, opens that portal, and steps through. Only way to close it is with the Key. Good news is – hell beast is gone; bad news is, so is the Key and there's now an open portal to a hell dimension."

"I already know this stuff," Dawn huffed. "What's it got to do with me?"

"There's an order of Monks that's been guarding the Key for over a thousand years, hiding it from Glory, who didn't much care because she couldn't use it yet. Then it was getting close to when the portal could be opened, and Glory found them. A few of them managed to escape with the Key and they sent it to the only one they thought might be able to protect it."

"Buffy," Dawn said dully, "They sent it to Buffy."

"They did. Now, in our time, you were getting all antsy about the things going on around you, and you asked me to help you find out what everyone was talking about. Happened a bit later on in our time, but the bottom line is, I helped you break into the Magic Box –"

"You helped me break in to Giles' store?"

"Hey. Evil vampire, Bit. Never forget it."

"Pffft," she said, waving her arm. "You aren't evil now, and you probably weren't then. You were probably already in love with Buffy."

"Totally beside the point," he said. "Point is, I _was_ evil and you should have been stayin' away from me instead of asking me to help you be bad."

She grinned at him. "Okay, so we broke into the store. Then what?"

"You went lookin' for the information you wanted, and when you found it…. Wasn't what you wanted to learn. And not how you should have had to learn it."

"Which is why we're telling you now," Buffy interrupted. "We don't want you to find out like that."

"Find. Out. What?" Dawn tried, unsuccessfully, to stamp her foot while still seated. "What don't I know?"

"You _are_ the Key, love." Spike's voice was gentle, but there was no mistaking its sincerity.

"I'm the what? The Key? Glory's Key that she wants…. That's ridiculous. I'm Dawn Summers. Yeah, the Slayer is my sister, but I'm just a normal, ordinary girl."

She looked at her mother for confirmation, but saw nothing there but fear and sadness. A quick glance at Buffy showed the same understanding and pity. She spun back to Spike. "I _am_ a normal girl! Aren't I?" she finished in a softer, pleading voice.

"I wish that were true, love," he said. "Let me try to explain about what those monks did to protect the Key…."

When he'd finished, and nothing from Buffy or Joyce gave her any reason to doubt his words, Dawn shrank back into the couch.

"I'm not real?"

"You _are_ real!" Buffy said, as Joyce hastened to put her arm around Dawn. "You're as real as you can be… you just didn't get here exactly when and how you think you did. All those memories you have —that everybody has—they arrived the same time you did. But you _are_ real and we love you. You're my little sister —"

"And my L'il Punkin Belly!" Joyce added.

Buffy made a face. "And Mom's L'il Punkin."

"I don't believe you," Dawn said, even as her eyes filled with tears. "I'm real! I'm Dawn Summers and I'm fourteen years old."

"Yes, you are. You're my Little Niblet and have been since I first saw you peeking down the stairs at me three years ago….or six years ago, depending."

"Huh, right, you guys are from the future. So, if you both survived Glory, you must have kicked her butt, so what's the big deal? Why were you sent back?"

"I think we'll leave this explanation to you," Buffy said, standing up and tugging Joyce to her feet. She gave Dawn a reassuring smile and squeezed Spike's shoulder as she went by. "Mom and I will just go outside and enjoy the rest of the afternoon sunshine."


	8. Chapter 8

**CHAPTER EIGHT**

"How do you think it's going?" Joyce asked after a few minutes of peaceful contemplation of the yard.

Buffy shook her head. "It's a lot to take in. I mean, it's better that we tell her now, so she can be careful and maybe not take it so hard, but when she finds out what happened in our time, and why we have to stop it…."

"She's going to think it was all her fault that you died."

"She felt like that anyway. Spike told me. Between the two of them I think they were carrying around enough guilt for ten people. He thought he should have been able to stop Doc from cut—from opening the portal, and she thought it was her fault for being the Key in the first place. They did a lot of wallowing before I came back."

"I guess they were glad to see you."

"Well, Dawn was, for sure. At least until my depresso-girl behavior made her hate me. She had no idea where I was while I was gone, but Spike did, so as glad as he was to see me…." Buffy paused, remembering. "I don't think I'll ever forget the look on his face when he realized I was me and not–" She coughed.

"But he's a lot older and a little smarter about magic then they were, so he knew there were probably going to be complications from that dark magic Willow tapped into. When he found out where I'd been…. We had a lot of arguments about whether or not I should tell Willow and everybody that they pulled me out of Heaven, so they'd stop expecting me to be happy all the time."

Joyce shuddered. "I'm still having trouble wrapping my mind around that. You were dead, buried, and Willow resurrected you? And pulled you out of Heaven?"

"I guess that's where I was. All I know for sure is that I was warm and happy and at peace. And I felt loved. It's all pretty much a faded dream now. If I didn't have to tell someone about it every once in a while, I'm sure I would have completely forgotten what it was like. Except for the clawing my way out of a grave. That's harder to forget…."

"That must have been quite a shock. To be at rest and then —"

"You have no idea," Buffy said through tight lips. "Let's not go there."

"And Spike's job is to see that you don't go back?"

"Well, not this year anyway. Not for a long time if he has his way, but I _am_ still the slayer, so he might or might not get his way. But for now, it's that or make sure I get to stay dead, if that's how it goes. But I don't think it will. I'm not stupid enough to take Glory on by myself, and my backup is a little stronger and more aware of what needs to be done. And more able to do it."

"Why won't you tell me what that is?"

"Because you don't need to know, Mom. And it wouldn't make you any happier if you did know."

 **XXX**

It wasn't long before the kitchen door flew open and Dawn was standing on the porch staring at Buffy.

"You _died_? You died so _I_ wouldn't have to? Are you nuts?" Her shriek made both Joyce and Buffy cringe.

Buffy sighed and stood up.

"Did you let Spike get to the rest of it?"

"What else is there? Are you some kind of ghost?"

Spike appeared in the doorway behind Dawn. "C'mon back in here, Bit, and let me finish the story."

"Go on," Buffy said. "Let him finish, then I'll come in and you can ask your questions"

Casting dubious looks over her shoulder, Dawn followed Spike back into the house, muttering, "My sister is a ghost. Or a zombie. Or something."

"That doesn't seem to be going well," Joyce said with a worried frown. "Why are you having Spike do it?"

"He was the one who made it up the tower first and tried to keep Doc from…." Buffy trailed off as she realized it probably wasn't a good idea to share exactly _how_ Doc had used Dawn to open the portal. "He was the one who tried to keep her safe up there, and then, after I… after that, they kind of bonded over their… mutual grief, I guess. So, he really knows her a lot better than she knows him, and I just figured he'd do a better job helping her understand… stuff."

"My mind is still boggled at the idea that Willow was able to bring you back from the dead. It just… it doesn't seem possible."

"Well, it had something to do with the magic involved, I think. Probably wouldn't have worked if I'd been hit by a truck instead of falling through a magic portal. And she had to get into some seriously dark magic to do it. It kinda messed her up mentally for a while." Buffy gave Joyce a rueful smile. "If we can't fix things this time around, you might be wishing you _did_ die," she said. "But we're going to," she added quickly at seeing the expression her mother's face.

She continued in a firm voice, "You aren't going to die, I'm not going to die, and next year is going to be… really, really different. But better! Much better!"

Joyce frowned and bit her lip. "It just hit me, that if I'm still alive by the time Glory opens her portal, I might have to watch you die. That's not acceptable, young lady!"

Buffy gave a short laugh at Joyce's indignation. "Yeah, it's not high on my list of things to do this year either. Don't worry about it, Mom. It's why we're here. To see that it doesn't happen."

"But you don't want to tell me how you intend to stop it…."

Buffy sighed. "I'd rather not. We all —Giles, Winston, Spike, and me —we all know what we _can_ do to stop it, but we're hoping to come up with another way that doesn't involve…. Something I'd rather not do."

"I don't care what you'd rather do, I care that you don't have to jump off a tower, or into a portal, or whatever it was that killed you before."

Buffy gave a short laugh. "I'll tell Spike he can probably add you to the list of people who'll do it if I won't," she said, only half-seriously.

"If it means what I think it means, you probably can. If it's a choice between losing my daughter or killing some random stranger, I'm more than willing to do what I have to do."

"Don't doubt that for a second, Joyce." Spike's voice preceded him out the door. "I've always said you were a potential slayer who didn't get called before she aged out of the window. Got that protective instinct, without the pesky 'no killing humans' hangups your Chosen daughter does."

"That is what she's trying so hard not to tell me, isn't it? That she might have to kill a human?"

"You're entirely too smart," Buffy grumbled. She glanced up to where Dawn was staring at her with her mouth open. "And you probably didn't need to hear that either."

Dawn shook her head. "Spike already told me Glory has a human host. It doesn't take a genius to figure out that if somebody kills her host, she probably disappears too." She glared at Buffy. "I think that's what you should do. I don't understand what all the fuss is about."

"I don't kill humans, Dawn," Buffy said. Remembering the possibly still-to-come fight with the knights, she added, "Not intentionally, anyway. It would be murder. Not in my job description."

"You do know your boyfriend is a vampire, right? He probably kills lots of people."

"Not now, he doesn't!"

"But he could, right?" Dawn turned to Spike. "You could, couldn't you?"

"Could. Will if I have to. That's why I was sent back."

"And Winston? Why is he here? Who sent him?" Joyce reminded them that she was as much a part of this as her two daughters.

Buffy shrugged. "He was sent back by the council just like I was, except that I never knew him. Something Spike and I did when we first got here last year changed the future enough that he's now part of that Council, and they decided to send him back to help us."

"How could he help?"

Buffy and Spike exchanged glances.

"You've seen how powerful a mage he is," he said. "He's not a healer, but he was able do it anyway. Seems he has other magical talents that he doesn't need to work quite as hard at."

"Can't he just magic Glory out of existence like he did Mom's tumor?" Dawn was wearing her "adults can be so stupid" expression.

"Just like us, Bit, he's trying not to do anything that might totally change the future world as we know it. Healing your mum was already a pretty big piece of magic to throw into the timeline."

Buffy added, "I'm pretty sure if he could send Glory back to hell with magic, he'd have done it already. There has to be a reason why he hasn't."

"Maybe he just hasn't seen her yet," Dawn said hopefully.

"Maybe so, Bit, but just in case, you need to be bloody careful where you go and who you're with. And for the love of … whatever… don't tell _anyone_ what you are."

"Not even Janice? Or Willow or Tara? Or Xander?"

" _Anyone!"_

Dawn flinched as all three adults shouted the same word, Spike's roar almost overpowering her mother and sister's voices, but not completely.

"All right, all right. Sheesh! I'm not stupid, you know." She relaxed and sat down on the steps, glancing up at Buffy and Spike. "It might be helpful if I knew what she looks like," she said.

"Bloody hell. We've been forgetting you haven't seen her yet."

"In our time, she didn't know you were the Key, but she knew I had it, and she was coming after me all the time. So you saw a lot of her. That probably won't happen this time since we won't have to hang out at the hospital, but when she does that locating spell with that snake thing…."

"Snake thing?" Dawn jumped to her feet. "You didn't mention any snake things."

"You don't have to worry about it yet. We'll probably have taken care of her before she gets around to that."

Dawn ignored Buffy's attempt to blow her off.

"What did it do?"

"It came into the Magic Box and saw you, knew you were the Key, and then tried to go back to Glory to tell her it found you."

"And?"

"And I killed it," Buffy said firmly. "It never got back to her. And following it allowed me to figure out where she was living when she had Spike, so we knew where to go to… rescue him."

Dawn looked at Spike. "What was she doing with you?"

"Those ugly little buggers that work for her thought I might be her bloody Key, so they broke into my crypt and dragged me off. Didn't take her long to figure out I wasn't what she was looking for, but might know where it was. She tried her best to get it out me. Was just trying to escape when your sis and the Scoobies came ridin' in like the cavalry."

"Aw. That was sweet. You came to rescue Spike."

Buffy coughed and exchanged a glance with an amused Spike before she tried to answer.

"Yeah. Something like that. I couldn't leave him there, in case she was able to torture the information out of him."

"You didn't sell me out, did you?" Dawn demanded.

"No, love. I didn't sell you out. Wouldn't have done that to your sis–or to you, for that matter. But it took a bit of doin' for Buffy to believe it."

"Really?" Dawn turned to stare at Buffy. "Why wouldn't you believe he would keep my secret? And what changed your mind?"

Buffy and Spike didn't even have to exchange glances to mutually agree that neither Dawn nor Joyce needed to know about the Buffybot if it could possibly be avoided.

"Well, you know, he was still evil then. And I didn't really believe that a soulless vampire could love, so…. Anyway. I figured out that we could trust him, and then he was just part of the gang when things got… worse."

"Worse than a snake thing looking for me?"

Buffy glared at Spike. "I thought you told her?"

"He did. I just wanted to hear you tell it. So, you were fighting Glory on the ground, and I was tied up on top of some rickety tower and some creepy guy stabbed me to make the portal open."

Joyce turned an icy stare on Buffy. "I think you left that out of your version," she said through tight lips. "That Dawn was stabbed."

Buffy sighed. "It was her blood they needed to open the portal. And since she was made from me, we have the same blood. So, my blood was what I used to close it before all the monsters on the other side could come through and destroy the world."

She looked her mother in the eye. "It's what we do, Mom. Slayers. It's what we do. We stand between the world and evil things that want to destroy it. Sometimes it doesn't go great for us."

Joyce's face was pale. "I guess I never really… I don't really understand what it means to be you, do I?"

"The only one who can understand what it means to be the Slayer is another slayer."

Spike walked up behind Buffy, putting his arms around her. "And this one is the best slayer that ever lived. Even other slayers don't know what it means to be her, because they aren't her. She's very, very special."

Buffy blushed and shrugged, turning her head to rest it against his chest in thanks.

"The point is," she continued, "being the Slayer means being in danger all the time. It's our job to see that the Big Bads don't win." She shrugged again. "Sometimes they do, and, as someone who knows about it once said to me, sometimes slayers are just tired and ready to lose that last fight." She felt Spike's arms tighten around her as he realized who she was quoting.

"But I'm not," she said briskly, shaking him off. "So, this time we're going to take Glory down before she ever gets that tower built. And before she can figure out that her Key is a fourteen-year-old girl."

There was a moment of silence before Joyce stood up and said, "Well on that cheery note, I think I'll start dinner. Will you two be staying for it?"

"Sure, Mom. We'll have to leave in a couple of hours for a Scooby meeting, but dinner would be nice."

 **XXX**

As they walked through the now-dark streets to the Magic Box, Buffy slipped her hand into Spike's. If he was surprised, he didn't show it, just giving a little squeeze and a barely-hidden smile.

"Maybe I shouldn't do this," she mused, without releasing his hand. "The more important Glory thinks you are to me, the more likely she is to try to capture you again."

He shrugged. "There could be worse things to happen, love. If she has me, and she changes while I'm there…"

"We're not using you as bait!"

"We'll use me however I need to be used to keep you and the Bit safe," he growled, growling even deeper when she yanked her hand out of his.

"The idea is that we _both_ survive this time. Nobody dies! I don't jump off a tower, and you don't burn to a crisp saving the world from the First Evil." She stopped and turned to glare at him. "And we live happily ever after!"

"I thought you gave up on fairy tales when you had to send the great poof to Hell," he snapped back, frowning at the expression on her face.

"That was before I died and came back… and you died and came back. And then we both got sent back in time to the same time and place. We're not exactly living normal lives, are we?" She glared at him, daring him to argue with her.

"Good point, love. Happily ever after, it is."

He opened the door and followed her into the Magic Box.

"Or not," he said as they met the hostile stares from the people sitting around the table.


	9. Chapter 9

**CHAPTER NINE**

 **"** Hi guys." Buffy did her best to pretend they weren't all glaring at her. "Are we late? I thought we decided on seven o'clock?"

" _You_ decided on seven. The rest of us wanted to have pizza first and make it more like an old fashioned Scooby meeting." Willow smiled, but Buffy could tell she was feeling a little testy.

"Yeah, you know, before it included bloodsuckers," Xander said, pointing at Spike who made a rude gesture at him as he walked to the back to talk to Giles. Although there was still distrust and tension, they seemed to be settling back into the mutual-insulting-without-real-rancor that had been their eventual relationship any time Xander wasn't accusing Spike of evil behavior, and Buffy barely noticed the byplay.

She sat down at the table and began playing with the empty pizza box.

"I'm sorry. My mom asked us to stay for dinner, so we did. I didn't know you were expecting me –us–to be here for the pizza part."

"We were expecting _you_ ," Willow said. She glanced back at Spike and sighed. "But it's okay. We knew Spike was probably going to be here too."

"It was supposed to be just us," Xander muttered. "The core Scoobies."

"Really, Xander?" Buffy's voice took on a bit of an edge. "Because I'm pretty sure Tara and Anya weren't part of the Scooby gang back in high school." She smiled at them in apology. "No offense. I love you both, but—"

"That's okay, Buffy. Xander's just in one of his 'Buffy shouldn't be living with Spike' moods. He'll get over it when we get home and he's had an orgasm."

"That always does it for me," Spike said from the back of the room. Buffy's glare did nothing to take the grin off his face.

"See?" Anya turned to Xander. "You and Spike have something in common."

The snickers and laughter didn't help Xander's disposition, but he didn't respond with anything but a groan.

"So, anyway, the need for the meeting is that we're getting closer to the reason Spike and I were sent back."

"The hellgod is here?"

"Yep. She's here and I've got the bruises to prove it. So, here's the sitch—Glory is looking for the Key she needs to get herself back to her own hell dimension in a few months. It was sent to me for safekeeping and she's going to figure that out pretty soon, one way or another."

"If she hasn't already," Spike muttered. "She's a nasty bint, but she's not stupid."

"She was the reason you died in your own time, right?" Willow said with a frown. "So, how are you going to stop her?"

"Well, I've got a couple of things in mind…"

When Buffy had given an abbreviated account of the events leading up to the tower and her need to jump, she stopped to let it all sink in. She thought she'd managed to cover all the highlights without actually telling them that Dawn was the Key.

"So, if Olaf shows up for some reason, before you magic him away to troll world or wherever you sent him in our time, try to make sure the hammer stays here. That way I'll have it for fighting Glory. Trust me, it helps a lot."

"And if he doesn't?" Xander had become interested in spite of himself.

"Well, then we've got two powerful magicians, a strong vampire, and me. And we already know she has a human host, and who that host is. So, there are lots of possibilities."

"One of which is obviously killing her human host. You've thought of that, haven't you, Buffy?" Anya waited for Buffy's answer.

"Yes. We have thought of that. I'm not sure I can kill an innocent… or maybe not-so-innocent," she said, remembering how Ben how looked right at her and run away from what Glory had done. It occurred to her that a doctor should have tried to help her or the monk. "Anyway, I don't know if I'm ready to kill a human, but —"

"But Spike would… if he could…." Willow glanced back to where Spike was sitting. She'd never actually gotten him or Buffy to admit he wasn't chipped anymore, but she clearly still had her suspicions.

"He would. And, just so you all know…" Buffy raised an eyebrow at Spike, who nodded. "…he _could_ do it. He doesn't kill or eat people anymore because he has his soul, but he could if he needed to, and we're—I'm— okay with it if he does."

Tara looked distressed, although not in a judgmental way, Willow looked smug, Anya just nodded, and Xander was turning an interesting shade of purple.

"Did Winston take his chip out?" Willow asked. "Because I'm sure he could."

"No, he didn't do it. It's been gone for a long time. An Initiative doctor took it out… at my request."

There was silence as they all absorbed the idea that Spike was free to kill anyone and that Buffy was responsible for it.

"Can I ask why you thought that was anything but a really, really bad idea?" Xander glanced over his shoulder at Spike, who stared back and bared his teeth.

Buffy sighed, then shrugged. "I'd like to think you trusted me enough to know it was a good idea, but just in case…. A – It was breaking down and killing him. Painfully. B – He already had his soul, so he didn't need a mechanical device to keep him from killing. And C – I needed him. He was the only one I could trust for a while, and the only one strong enough to have a prayer against the Turok-han. My choices were dust him before he died in agony, or have it taken out. I chose to keep him alive and in my life."

"I cannot imagine I took that decision very well," Giles said, nearing the table. "I gather from the letter my future self sent back with Winston, it may have caused quite a rift between us."

"Ya think?" Buffy gave him a wry smile. "But you got over it when he used his soul to help me save the world. It's all good." She frowned and glanced at Spike. "Or maybe not? I guess that Giles never had a chance to apologize to Spike…."

Spike smirked at Giles. "Feel free to start begging forgiveness any time now."

"I wouldn't hold my breath for that," Giles muttered quietly, but he sent Spike a smile.

"As fascinating as all this is," Willow interrupted. "Can we get back to Glory and her human host? Shouldn't we know who the host is? In case we run into him?"

Buffy nodded. "I guess you should. His name is Ben. He's a doctor at the hospital. In our time, Mom had a brain tumor, and we all met Ben when she was in the hospital for her tests, and then for the surgery. Since that's not going to happen this time —"

Willow interrupted. "Darn it! Winston told me I could be there to watch if your mom said he could do it."

"He told you about it?"

"We were talking about healing and Tara's earth magic stuff, and he mentioned he was willing to try it if your mom agreed. Sounds like he didn't wait for me." Willow was clearly miffed and Buffy tried to think of a way to soothe her feelings.

"It was a real last-minute decision. I had to talk Mom into it, and then when she found out that it wasn't safe to be at the hospital, she all of a sudden wanted to do it right away, so we did. Maybe Winston tried to get hold of you and just couldn't find you?"

Willow didn't look appeased, but changed the subject. "So, this Key Glory is looking for, do you have it somewhere safe?"

"I hope so," Buffy replied. "I'm not going to tell anybody where it is until I have to —" at the anger she could see on Willow's face, she added quickly, "—because the fewer people who know, the less likely it is to slip out by accident."

"Because obviously, we can't be trusted not to do that," Willow said snidely.

Although she'd seemed to be much happier once she and Tara were in a relationship, and was quite content to talk magic with Winston as more or less an equal, every now and then her resentment at not being more important in Buffy's slaying life would flare up. This seemed to be one of those times.

Buffy clenched her teeth and reminded herself that Willow had been a lot of help to her the first time, and deserved an explanation.

"Did I mention about Glory's brain-sucking?"

"You said she gets her energy from sucking it from…. Oh my god. Is that how she found out where the key was in your time?"

"More or less. Not directly. I mean it's not like she sucks out information along with all the energy, but it leaves her victims very childlike and not able to understand what they're doing. Somebody who'd been damaged like that identified the Key in front of Glory, and that was that. She grabbed it and took off."

Buffy looked at their startled faces. "And that's what led to me having to jump off that tower. Her minions got the portal open while I was fighting her on the ground and I had to run up there to close it."

"So, if you don't want to tell us where it is, does that mean one of us might get brain-sucked?" Willow stared around the table at the suddenly frightened faces. "It's one of us who told Glory where the key was?"

"It was." Buffy sighed. "But not _told_ her on purpose or anything, just didn't know not to after being mind-sucked." She bit her lip, thinking hard. "If it looks like Glory's been brain-sucking so many people that one of them might…."

She started over. "For some reason, crazy people or those who've been brain-sucked are able to see the Key for what it is. It glows or something. I'm not sure, really, but they know right away. And if they point to it and act all 'oooh, look!' in front of Glory, she'll know in a heartbeat. If I think that's going to happen, I'll be sure you all know where the Key is and what it looks like, so you'll know to steer people like that away from it."

"And we're back to why not tell us now?" Xander asked.

"And we're back to it was one of you in my time," Buffy snapped. "I hope that isn't going to happen. That we can stop Glory long before we get to that point, but just in case…."

Giles interrupted the testy conversation.

"We already know that Glory's human host is a young doctor from the hospital. Once we have a description of him, and of Glory in her other form…."

Buffy said, "Ben is a nice–looking man, young-ish, fairly tall, pleasant to talk to. You'd never guess that he can turn into a skanky blonde hellgod in a too tight red dress."

"Does Glory always wear a red dress? Because that doesn't sound very god-like. You'd think she would have lots of clothes." Anya looked genuinely puzzled. "I certainly would if I was a god."

Buffy frowned and turned to look at Spike. "She did always have the same dress on, didn't she?"

"Dunno. I don't think so. But most of the time, anyway. It's not like I noticed her wardrobe. Maybe she had a bloody closetful of them, or maybe it's just part of her look and she likes red."

Giles nodded. "It's entirely possible that her normal form in her own dimension isn't a human one and she just chose this form, including the clothing, for when she isn't hiding in her human host."

"Point is," Spike said, "if you run into anybody who fits either of those descriptions, walk the other way. It isn't going to take her very long to figure out the Slayer has her Key, so the less she sees of the rest of you, especially with us, the less likely she is to decide to snatch somebody as a hostage or a torture victim."

"Us, but not you? What's the matter, Spike, don't you think you'd make a good hostage to be tortured?" Xander snickered, but nobody else did.

Spike stared at him coldly, but didn't reply, leaving it to Buffy to snap, "She already has. He doesn't need to repeat it this time around."

To everyone's surprise, including, it seemed, his own, Xander flushed and muttered, "Sorry. I didn't know."

"No, you didn't know. And I'm hoping you won't ever have to see what she did to him. But, just so you know, in our time it was so bad, _you_ felt sorry him. You were the one who helped Giles get him back to his crypt and told me how badly hurt he was."

"Huh," was Xander's articulate reply. He peered at Spike and frowned. "Don't tell me in our time the bloodsucker and I are friends?"

Spike snorted as Buffy shook her head.

"I think 'friends' would be a little strong, but you did spend a lot of time when I was… gone… fighting vamps together and taking care of Dawn. He saved your life… all your lives… many times, beginning about now in our time. You can't spend that many years fighting together and not develop—"

"If you say 'feelings' I'm going to lose my pizza." Xander looked green at the very thought.

"If she says 'feelings', I'm going to bite her!"

Spike's expression mirrored Xander's, and all the girls and Giles laughed at them, sparking a moment of solidarity as Spike and Xander glared at Buffy simultaneously.

"I was going to say 'mutual respect' but now I'm not sure…."

The brief laughter had lightened the mood and when the conversation renewed things were much improved.

"So, what else, besides avoiding attractive hellgod-hiding doctors and trashy women in red dresses do we need to know?

"Well, I guess Tara's birthday might be something to be ready for."

Tara's face went pale. "Oh goddess, that's right. You know."

"Know? Know what?" Willow looked back and forth between Buffy and Tara.

Spike spoke up quickly. "Nothing. There's nothing _to_ know. Glinda's family had her convinced she was part demon and that it would manifest when she turned twenty. Around time for her birthday, they showed up here at the shop expectin' to take her back with them."

He snorted. "Brilliant way to keep their women down home and takin' care of the lazy sods when you think about it. Make them think they aren't safe to be around, so they won't make friends or have anywhere else to go. Back then, when I was still tryin' to be evil, I thought it was right clever of her old man." He growled. "Still didn't let her go with him, though."

Tara frowned. "How did you—"

"Buffy and the rest of the Scoobies had already told him he had to go through them to take you away, but you—she—you were all confused and thinking you needed to go with them to keep Willow safe."

"I… I'm not a demon?" Tara blinked at him, then at Buffy.

"No, of course not. It's a lie your family used to keep your mom from leaving that abusive jerk, and they were going to use it to bring you back to wait on them hand and foot." Buffy exhaled sharply. "I really should have punched him while I had the chance."

"So… I don't—didn't go back with them?"

"Nope. Spike punched you in the nose, gave himself a headache, and showed you that you were all human. Problem solved." Buffy beamed at Tara and then at Spike.

"Th… thank you?" Tara said slowly. "So, I'm really not a demon?"

"Not by a long shot," Spike said, "but the Lei-Ach demons Glory sent to kill the Slayer were real, so no spells to make demons invisible to her this time, alright?" Spike shook his finger at her, smiling to show Tara he wasn't really angry, but she blushed and apologized anyway.

Buffy rolled her eyes. "I'd almost forgotten about them. When's your birthday, Tara?"

"Not for a couple of weeks."

"Okay, then we'll know when they show up here that Glory has figured out that I'm protecting the Key. And that your family is around. But we'll be able to see the demons this time, and we'll be ready for them. We'll hide some weapons in the main part of the shop when it gets closer to Tara's birthday so everybody will be able to defend themselves."

"They were only after you, love," Spike reminded her.

"And they're going to get me," Buffy said grimly, then smiled. "So, who's planning Tara's party?"

 **XXX**

Tara's birthday came and went with much less drama this time. She stood up to her father and brother and told them she knew they were lying about her being a demon and that she was happy where she was.

When her brother tried to grab her, threatening to beat her into the ground, he found her standing firmly. Spike's eyes were sparkling with the urge to do battle, while Xander stepped up beside her and quietly suggested that trying to hurt Tara might result in her brother breaking something. The implication was clear, and Donnie swore in frustration. He couldn't have reached Tara anyway, as Buffy, who he'd already seen break a Lei-Ach demon's neck, was standing between him and Tara, saying if he wanted to follow through on his threat, he would have to go through her.

Willow, Dawn, Anya, and Giles were backing her up, insisting that they were now Tara's family.

Muttering about witches and evil and demons, her family slowly moved toward the door, her father insisting he knew a demon when he saw one. Moving too quickly for them to see how he got there, Spike was between Tara's family and the exit.

"You think you know a demon when you see one?" he growled, going into game face. "Take a good look. This is what you'll meet if you try to come back here."

He stood there just long enough to make sure they all understood him, then stepped aside to watch as they tried to get out the door at the same time.

"Well, that was fun."

"More fun than punching me in the nose in front of them?" Tara asked with a twinkle in her eye.

"Oh much," he replied, fading back into his human features. "I don't like bullies."

 **XXX**

While Glory seemed to be keeping a low profile after the complete failure of her attempt on Buffy's life, Buffy and Spike went back to regular slaying activities. They were walking through a quiet graveyard when Buffy frowned and began to stare around.

"What's up, love?"

"This looks familiar. Like maybe it's where I ran into that vamp that stabbed me with my own stake."

"Don't suppose there's any important reason he has to live?" Spike growled the question as he began sniffing the air.

"I doubt it. I think Riley took out the whole nest the next day, so it's not like he spent a lot of time celebrating. Why?"

"Because I think I heard something behind that mausoleum over there…." Spike said as he stalked toward it, his intentions clear.

"If it's him, he's mine!" Buffy said, grabbing his coat and pulling him back.

"You don't need to be getting yourself stabbed again," Spike said. "Just because Winnie's all recovered doesn't mean he wants to be exerting himself like that a second time."

"I don't have any intention of letting that happen," Buffy said. "This is payback, not a rerun. You stay here," she added. "If he stabs me, he's all yours."

Spike grumbled, but faded into the shadow of a tree as Buffy walked toward the place she thought she'd be attacked. To her surprise, nothing happened. No vamp was waiting for her to banter and fight with.

"Well, that was a letdown," she muttered, gesturing for Spike to approach. "I wonder where he is?"

Spike shrugged. "Thought I heard him, pet, but he must've scarpered off. Maybe he knew I was here."

"Or, maybe it wasn't the same one. I guess there are lots of vamps we might have staked since last year that would have meant he never got turned."

"Or that."

"Huh. Well that sucks. Staking him was one of the things from this year I was really looking forward to."

"Let's finish up this patrol and go home. I'll give you a little sample of what kind of things I was looking forward to."


	10. Chapter 10

**CHAPTER TEN**

Just as she had in their time, Glory strolled into the Magic Box and purchased the needed spell materials from an unsuspecting Giles. When he realized what he'd done, he groaned and admitted to a hysterical Anya that he hadn't been thinking.

"In all fairness to me, I would have expected someone much taller and more… physically imposing."

"The things physically imposing about her were on her chest, and you never took your eyes off them long enough to notice anything else!"

"You might have spoken up," he said stiffly.

"And make a hellgod that can beat up Buffy mad at me? Do you think I'm crazy?" Anya flounced to the back of the store to announce what Giles had done.

Buffy groaned. "Now I'm going to have to ride a snake like a bucking bronco," she muttered. She turned to glare at Giles. "Just so you know, we had to use your car to chase it last time, so make sure you've got plenty of gas."

"How long after she got the spell ingredients was it before it showed up?"

Buffy squeezed her eyes shut in thought, then shook her head. "I really don't know. A few days? A week maybe? We'll just have to watch for it." She frowned as she remembered where it appeared. "It showed up here, so in our time she already knew I was protecting the key and that I hang out here a lot. She sent it to find me and the Key. She sent it here before she sent it to the house…. And we know she's figured that much out this time too."

She glanced at Dawn who was looking apprehensive.

"It'll be okay. You'll just keep coming here with me, and we'll be watching for it. With luck, one of us —" she gestured between herself and Spike "—will be able to see it before it gets inside and it will never get a chance to find… the Key."

"It won't find _me_ ," Dawn said. "I'm going to go straight home from school from now on and I'll hide under my bed. You can deal with the snake."

"You'll be safer where we are," Buffy said. "If it goes looking for the Key at the house, then we'll have to be there too. Spike can patrol the outside and I can be inside with you and Mom. One way or the other, we have to either stop it before it locates the Key, or be close enough to it to catch and kill it. It was really, really fast. I remember Giles's car had a hard time catching up with it."

"I don't like snakes," Dawn muttered.

"Then follow directions and you probably won't have to see it. I can't watch for the snake and look out for you at the same time unless we're in the same place."

Anya stared back and forth from Buffy to Dawn. "Aren't you just as worried about your mother seeing the snake as you are Dawn?" She waited, eyebrows raised while Buffy exchanged looks with Giles.

"Um… oh dammit!" Buffy did her best to appear flustered, which wasn't much of a stretch at the moment. "In my time, I guess maybe Mom was in the hospital or something and… I don't know. I guess I just wasn't thinking that the snake might scare her too. I was so used to just worrying about Dawn, I forgot that Mom is around more in this time." She frowned. "Now that I think about it, I'm not really living at the house anymore, so maybe it'll try to get into our apartment to search."

"Good luck with that," Spike snorted. Buffy nodded, remembering Max's wards, but didn't explain.

"Did it hurt anybody in your time?" Giles inquired.

"No. It just looked around, saw where the Key was, and took off. It wasn't very friendly when I tried to stop it from running back to Glory, but it didn't try to hurt anybody who was with me when it found us. I think it's job was just to find the Key and report back."

"Well, I hope you have that Key hidden someplace far away from here. I don't want a big snake or a hellgod wrecking my—Giles' shop."

"Don't worry. I don't plan to let it in here. Or into Mom's house. Spike and I are just going to have to find it before it finds us... or us with the Key, or the Key where I've hidden it. In a really good hidey place."

Buffy ignored Anya's skeptical expression and began to chatter with Dawn about her school day.

 **XXXX**

The snake became a non-issue when Spike intercepted it just in front of the Magic Box one evening and cut off its head with a sword. Buffy burst out the door just in time to see it melting away.

"Oh. You got it. Good."

"Ugly bugger. How'd _you_ kill it?"

"I climbed up its slimy body and broke its neck."

"That's my girl," he said with a grin, twirling the sword. "Never do it the easy way if you can find a harder one."

"I didn't know it was coming, and I didn't have a sword then… smart ass." Buffy glared at him, but was too relieved to know Dawn was safe for the moment to stay mad at his sarcasm.

They went back into the store and sat down at the table. "How's your homework coming?" Buffy asked. "And by the way, Spike got the snake, so that's that."

Giles sighed and shook his head. "Well, that's that for the moment. What's next?"

Buffy thought for a minute. "Well, in my time, Riley was getting suck jobs from vamp whores—"

"There are bite houses here?" Giles didn't hide his surprise, but coughed and turned away when Buffy asked him how knew what they were called.

"What's a bite house?" Dawn asked. "And why was Riley going to one?"

"Pretty sure the name says it all, Bit," Spike growled. "And that's all you need to know about them."

"Um, yeah. I guess that's a conversation for another time," Buffy agreed. "Anyway, maybe… I'll check it out. Or Spike will. He's the one who showed me in our time."

"I'm not twelve, you know," Dawn grumbled.

"You're not an adult either," Spike said, fixing her with a glare. She glared right back at him.

"Don't give me that look! I get that in your time you had to take care of me and that gave you a right to be bossy. But Buffy and Mom are still here now. You're just her boyfriend, and you don't get to act all 'I'm the man of the house' with me."

She flounced away back to the store's tiny bathroom, missing the pain that flashed in Spike's eyes. Buffy put a gentle hand on his arm and murmured, "She didn't mean that to hurt you. She just doesn't know you exactly the same way she did in our time."

Anya looked at Spike with what was almost sympathy. "She's just a moody teenager. I'll bet she'll forget all about it by time she comes out." She smiled broadly. "But while she's not here, tell us about the bite houses."

Buffy cast a glare toward the back of the store, but said, "Riley was feeling all unappreciated or something like that, and he was going to a vamp whore house to get bitten. Spike showed me what was going on, I burned the house down and broke up with Riley when he gave me an ultimatum."

" _He_ gave _you_ an ultimatum?" Even Giles seemed shocked enough to rejoin the conversation.

Buffy snorted. "Yeah, he said either I had to forgive him or… wait, you know what? That's not quite it. He didn't want me to _forgive_ him, he wanted me to admit that being the slayer and caring more about my sick mom and the Key than his ego made it all my fault he went there looking for… whatever. When I didn't do it, he took off with his old Initiative buddies and went to South America."

"Sounds like bloody good riddance," Giles said.

Spike added, "Took the words right out my mouth."

"You should have come to me," Anya said. "I could have had somebody work a vengeance on him. He deserved it."

"Hallie causes enough trouble next year," Buffy said with a snort. "We don't need her showing up any earlier than she will anyway."

Anya frowned. "You've met Hallie?"

"Not yet. But we will… or maybe not. Next year is going to be so different…"

"I have," Spike said. "Knew her when she was a human bitch."

"Hey!" Anya glared at him. "Hallie's been my friend for hundreds of years. You don't get to talk about her like that! You couldn't have known her when she was human." When Spike fixed a cold stare on her, she retreated behind Giles muttering, "Even if you are a vampire. If you met her before you got turned, she must have working."

"Something I should know?" Buffy asked, shrugging when he shook his head.

Dawn's eventual emergence from the bathroom was anticlimactic as they'd gone on to discuss what to do about the bite houses… "Burn them to the ground!" Buffy insisted, while Spike, and surprisingly Giles, argued that they weren't hurting anyone who didn't want to be hurt.

"Maybe the big lump won't go there this time around," Spike finally snapped in exasperation. "So, you won't be saving him from a fate worse than death."

Buffy's eyes narrowed. "This isn't about Riley," she said. "It's about letting vampires feed on people."

" _Willing_ people," he growled back. "Who are you to decide what's good for 'em and what isn't?"

"I'm the _Slayer_."

"Think you might be confusing that with God or something," he muttered. "C'mon, Bit. I'll walk you home. Should be safe now. At least until the bitch comes up with something else."

Apparently Dawn had forgiven him, and also figured out she could get more out of him if Buffy wasn't around. She shoved her books into her bag and cheerfully walked out the door with Spike.

 **XXX**

Buffy was standing in the alley, arms folded, staring at the bite house she'd managed to locate again when Spike walked up behind her.

"You gonna warn anybody before you burn it down?" he asked quietly.

She shook her head. "I'm just watching to see what kind of people go in there. I don't understand it. Why would anyone _want_ to get bitten?"

"Do you remember how you felt when I sucked so hard I pulled your blood out?"

"It felt good while you were sucking, but if that hadn't felt so good, having my skin burst would have hurt!"

"But the sucking felt good, didn't it? Now try to imagine for a minute that I just gently put my two sharpest fangs into your skin somewhere, and then started sucking. You might feel the bite—or you might not, dependin' on what else was goin' on at the same time—but once the sucking started, you'd forget all about those little pinpricks. Trust me, love, the little bit of pain from the bites those customers are getting are more than worth it to them."

She stared at him with narrowed eyes. "Why didn't I know this?"

He shrugged. "Because except for Drac, who probably had a thrall on you, nobody that bit you was worried about makin' it feel good, were they? Old Batface never would, and I doubt the big poof was thinkin' about anything but what he needed to survive."

Buffy nodded her head and looked thoughtful before saying, "Why didn't —don't you ever bite me? For real, I mean."

She waited while he stared at her with wide eyes and an open mouth, finally finding his voice.

"Wouldn't do that without your permission, love. Except for those little nips I take when we're…. Wouldn't do that to you unless I thought you wanted it."

"How would you know if I wanted it, if you never told me you could do it and it would feel good?"

"Just assumed you wouldn't, Slayer," he said gruffly. "If you want it, all you have to do is ask."

"Don't _you_ want it?"

He took a deep breath. "Can we finish this conversation some other time, in some more appropriate place than a dirty alley?"

Buffy glanced around and sighed. "You're right. This isn't a good place for that kind of conversation. But we _are_ going to have it," she said.

"Countin' on it, love." As they turned to walk away, he said to her back, "And just so you know, I've always wanted it and I always will, but it's your decision to make, not mine."

 **XXXX**

Buffy couldn't think of any way to find out if Riley was visiting the house, short of asking him to take his shirt off in front of her, which seemed like a really, really bad idea. She ended up telling herself he had no reason to feel underappreciated now, so his ego wouldn't need the boost it got from being needed by a vampire. She was fairly certain he had written off her two vampire boyfriends as "a slayer thing' and since she hadn't ever really gotten into a relationship with him, there was no reason for jealousy to have driven him to check out vampires for himself.

So, when he approached her early in December to tell her he was thinking about leaving Sunnydale, she was a little surprised that he would bother to tell her. But she put on a smile and tried to act surprised.

"Where are you going?" she asked.

"South America. There's some sort of demon infestation going on down there and we've been asked to help out because of our experience here. But I haven't decided if I'll go yet. I think I could still do some good here."

Buffy nodded as if that was all new information to her.

"I don't suppose you know anything about it?" Riley asked, his tone indicating he wouldn't be surprised if she did.

Buffy cocked her head at him. "What do you want me to say, Riley? Will it make you happy if I say I have no idea what's going on in South America? The Council might know something about it, but they haven't shared it with me. I've got my own situation here to worry about, so it's not like they'll expect me to go."

She studied his face. "Or do you want me to tell to be careful down there because you might get hurt? Or that you might meet a girl you really like, and—"

"Which one of those is true?"

"Whichever one you want it to be, Riley. Nobody's mentioned a demon infestation to me, so let's go with that one, okay?"

"I'm probably leaving town, Buffy. We're all leaving. No more Initiative soldiers here, just your regular National Guard guys. Don't you think you could share some secrets with me now?"

"Is that why you're here? Not to say good-bye but to ask me to tell you what I've already told you I can't?"

"I know you have secrets, and I don't like secrets."

She took a shot in the dark.

"Really, Riley? Do you know what a bite house is?"

He blinked at the sudden change of subject, but looked away briefly. "I think I've heard of them," he mumbled.

"Ever been to one? If you have, then I'd suggest you get on that helicopter tomorrow and never look back."

His face went through several colors and expressions before he settled on cold anger.

"What I do and don't do isn't any of your business, _Slayer_."

"And that's exactly why it is my business. I'll burn them down if have to, but it'll just be easier if you leave with your buddies."

"How do you—Never mind. You aren't going to tell me, are you?"

"Maybe someday. But not today. Have a good trip, Riley. Be safe down there."

She turned and walked away, making a mental note to take another look at the bite house, or send Spike to check it out.

She also watched from the woods near the base as Riley boarded the helicopter.

"Don't trust him, love?" Spike asked from behind her.

She sighed. "In our time, I let Xander talk me into apologizing to Riley for… whatever it was that I did to make him feel inadequate… and I ran all the way here to do it, but I was too late and he couldn't hear me yelling over the engine."

She smiled at Spike's growling curses, then patted his arm. "It's just as well. He would have been no help against Glory, and he probably would have staked you."

"He did stake me," Spike said, smiling ruefully at her shocked expression. "But he used one of the Initiative's toys to do it, so I thought I was dust, and it hurt like a bugger, but plastic isn't fatal to vamps. We ended up sharing some medicinal whiskey while he threatened to do it for real if I ever touched you."

Buffy turned a fierce glare on the helicopter now in the air.

"You should have told me!"

He shook his head. "Doubt you would have cared that much, love. You were still pretty brassed off at me yourself for letting you in on his little secret." He nudged her arm. "Back to my question. Didn't you trust him to leave?"

"Not really. This is a different Riley from the one that was in love with me, and he's never really gotten over being pissed off and curious about us and about the things we know. I wouldn't have put it past him to say he was going, then stay here out and try to figure us out."

"Well, he's gone now." Spike pointed to the lights on the rapidly disappearing helicopter.

"Good riddance," Buffy said as she turned away. "Now don't we have stuff to do tonight?"

"Don't know about you, but I definitely have plans," he said with an exaggerated leer and a pat on her ass.

Shaking her head and laughing, Buffy began to jog back toward Sunnydale.

"I meant _important_ stuff," she said over her shoulder.

"Hey! It's important to me!" he growled as he broke into a trot behind her.


	11. Chapter 11

**CHAPTER ELEVEN**

"So, are we gonna have our own tree, or just go to Mom's for Christmas morning?"

Spike blinked at the sudden change of subject. He'd thought they were talking about how they hadn't seen much of Glory's minions lately, and suddenly it seemed they were talking about Christmas decorations.

"Uh… whatever you want, love. It's not like vampires do a lot of decorating for Christmas."

"Well, you weren't _born_ a vampire. What did you do when you were human?"

"We did what we could with what we had," he said tersely, looking down at the book he'd been reading when the conversation began.

Buffy's eyes widened. While she knew a lot more about Spike's time as a human than she had before they found themselves reliving the more boring parts of their previous lives, it was never a comfortable subject for him and she hadn't insisted on more details.

"I thought you were rich? Didn't you have servants?"

He'd told her about how Dru vamped him, and then how he turned his mother, only to stake her when her demon made it clear his sweet mother was no longer there. In the course of that painful conversation, he'd mentioned that Dru ate her way through the staff in the house. He closed the book and sighed before answering.

"It was a different time, love. A different world. We were… comfortable…as befitted members of our social class. More comfortable when my father was alive and working to make us financially secure than we were after he died, but we lived as we were expected to live. Our furniture was a bit threadbare and our staff was quite small for a house the size of the one we lived in, but we did have a few servants. Doesn't mean we were rich. Those people had to be paid. And with it just being Mother and me… we didn't bother much with Christmas decorations. It wasn't the happiest time of the year."

"Oh." Buffy gazed at him with sympathy. "Okay. So, you don't want any decorations? I just thought they'd make it more…. homey."

"Sweetheart, this _is_ our home. And if you want to decorate it for Christmas, I'm all in favor of it. Just isn't something I've got much experience with. You'll have to tell me what you want."

"I want us to have our own tree," she said. "Don't you think that's a good idea?"

"I think it's bloody brilliant. Did you want to do it today?"

Buffy's eyes lit up. "Yes! We'll need to go to Home Depot for it and a tree stand, and lights, and ornaments, maybe some mistletoe, and we should get a wreath for the door—"

He groaned. "I'm going to regret this, aren't I?"

She pouted. "You said yes."

"That I did, love. I'm sorry. I'll try to be a good sport about it. But if Harris tries to mock me—"

"Yeah, yeah. Rip his head off and drink from his brain stem. I got it. Let's go."

 **XXXX**

One tree, two boxes of ornaments and lights, one wreath, one clump of sad-looking mistletoe, one tree stand, and one cranky vampire later, they were carrying their purchases to Spike's old car and trying to figure out how to secure the tree on the roof.

"Didn't they give us anything to tie it on with?" Buffy grumbled.

"All that unhelpful git did was point toward the aisle where they sell string," Spike growled, before pulling a roll of twine from his pocket. "Fortunately for him, I didn't take offense."

"Did you steal that?"

"Said I didn't take offense, didn't say I didn't take the string."

Buffy glared at him, tapping one foot on the pavement.

"Get over it, Slayer. I was bored to tears. Are you going to begrudge me a 98 cent bit of fun?"

"It's not the money, it's the principle of the thing. You shoplifted."

Spike just stared at her until she turned away, muttering, "Well you did. And it's wrong!"

"I'll add that to the list of things I'm prob'ly going to hell for," he snorted. "Now let's get this shrub up on the roof and get it home."

 **XXX**

"We should have a party! A Christmas party!"

"Have you been sniffing the candles again?" Spike raised his eyebrows.

"Look at this! We can't let all this go to waste." She waved her hand around the now gaily decorated apartment. "We're having a party," she said firmly. "I'm going to start telling everybody now." She picked up the phone and continued speaking to him as she dialed her mother. "We're having a party, and you're going to be —Hi Mom! Hey, guess what? Spike and I decided we want to have a Christmas party…. Yes, here. What did you think I meant? Oh, well, I suppose that's true, but I'm not really that young, you know, so I can do it….. Um… Christmas Eve, I guess?"

An hour later, Buffy had called everybody she could think of who might want to come to a party at their apartment. Everybody except Winston. She looked at Spike as she fretted.

"We can't not invite Winston. He's one of us now."

"Should have thought of that before you made all those phone calls, love. Not sure how having Winston and Max in the same small apartment is going to go. Assuming Winnie is even willing to enter the building once he picks up on the wards."

"Ugh! Maybe he won't care? Maybe they'll like each other?"

"Maybe you should give him a heads up first and let him make his own decision," Spike said. "You can just tell him our landlord is a bit of a sorcerer, and that the building is protected. Let him decide if he wants to party with another practitioner. Those mage types aren't often friendly. Not like witches and their covens. More solitary like."

"How do you know so much about them?"

"I'm old, love. Been around enough of 'em to know a little bit. I trust Max, and I trust Winnie, as much as I think any magical blokes can be trusted. But that doesn't mean they're going to trust each other."

"Party pooper," she muttered.

"Just saying, love, give them a chance to say 'yes' before you spring it on either one."

 **XXX**

"So, that's the sitch, Winston. Our landlord is some kind of a magic guy, probably not like you are," Buffy said, laying on the flattery, "but he uses magic on the building. Spike thinks I should let you know about it ahead of time, in case you don't want to come to our party."

Winston gazed at her, a small frown wrinkling his brow. "Why wouldn't I?"

"Um…well, no reason! Just, Spike said magic guys don't usually like each other, and… no reason. Really."

Winston smiled at her. "That's very thoughtful, Buffy. Why don't I just come by your apartment one evening and see what kind of wards he has?"

"Oh, that's a good idea. You can just visit us and then maybe you'll know if you want to come to the party."

"Buffy, I'm not worried about meeting another practitioner, he said gently. "I know how to be civil. Has Willow met your landlord?"

"Um… not really. But she's been at our place a lot of times and she wasn't bothered by the wards. She said she probably wouldn't have even noticed them if I hadn't asked if she could feel anything."

"Well, there you go. If there _are_ wards, they must be very weak or she would have picked up on them straight away."

Buffy frowned, but nodded her head. "I'm sure that's it. If Willow couldn't tell they were there, they can't be very…. It's probably fine."

"Shall I stop by tonight then? After the dinner hour?"

"Yeah, that's good. After dinner and before patrol. Okay, here's the address…." She caught the look on his face. "You already know where it is, don't you?"

"I do. Being able to locate you or Spike in a hurry seemed like something I should know how to do, so I've had Rupert drive me by it once or twice."

"And you never felt the wards?"

"No. But then we were moving past it in a vehicle, not attempting to enter the building or the property."

Okay, then. See you later."

 **XXX**

"Winston and Giles are coming by tonight." Buffy dropped the information casually as Spike was putting his empty mug in the sink.

"That so?"

"Yep. It was his idea to just come by before it was party time in case it turns out he doesn't want to come."

"How is that going to help him?"

"I guess he thinks he can tell from the wards how strong Max is, and whether or not it matters if he meets him."

"He can tell that from the building wards?"

"Yeah. I asked Giles about it, and he said if the wards are weak it means one thing, and if they're really strong, but most people can't tell they're there, then it means something else very different."

"Means that whoever put them up doesn't want anyone to know what he can do," Spike said. "And has the ability and power to make that work."

"Kinda sounds like Max, doesn't it?" Buffy frowned. "What do you think it means?"

"Means it could be a very exciting meeting." He grinned. "What could go wrong? Other than they bring down the building throwing lightning bolts at each other or something."

"Not funny, Spike."

"Not really meant to be, love. Guess we'll find out, someone's about to knock on the door." He pointed to his ear to indicate he'd heard someone approaching.

"Well, they must have made it this far…" Buffy went to the door and opened it just as Giles was raising his hand to knock. She frowned and stuck her head out to peer around. "Hi, Giles. Where's Winston?"

"He's studying the wards that surround this property and the building. Apparently they aren't what he was expecting." When Buffy and Spike exchanged looks, he added, "Is there something you haven't told us?"

"Well, we don't _know_ anything exactly. But we've always kind of suspected our landlord is pretty skilled at —"

"He is incredibly adept, and therefore, one must assume quite powerful." Winston's voice preceded him to the door. "These are some of the most powerful, and at the same time, most subtle wards I have ever felt. I'm not sure even I could construct something like this." His expression showed how disturbed he was, and Buffy was sure it wasn't just because he'd found something he couldn't do.

"So, what are you saying?" she demanded. "Are we living with—under—somebody evil?"

"I don't know," Winston said slowly, looking around the apartment as if he could find the answer lurking there somehow. "I've only known one man who had this much power and finesse, but he's —"

"Not as dead as you think he is."

They all whirled to face the still-open door.

"Master Maxmillian" Winston said, his voice showing more awe and emotion than they'd ever heard from him.

"Winston," Max said. "It's been a long time." He stood in the doorway, as if not sure of his welcome.

Buffy and Spike spoke almost simultaneously.

"You know each other?"

"Bloody hell!"

"We did. Many decades ago, we were… compatriots," Max said.

"Who chose opposite sides in a disagreement. We—I have assumed he was dead."

"You're not going to start throwing lightning bolts at each other, are you?"

"What?" They looked equally incredulous.

"Sorry. Just something dumb Spike said a while ago." Buffy glared at him

to show it was all his fault.

"Was just jokin'," Spike said as he walked to the door. "Why don't you come in, Max, and I'll see what I have in the way of refreshment. Seems like you and Winnie might have some catching up to do, yeah?"

Max nodded and entered the room, settling himself into the most comfortable chair, leaving the couch and the less comfortable chairs to the others. Buffy glanced around the room, belatedly realizing that the apartment was woefully short of things for guests to sit on. Spike leaned against the kitchen island, leaving the seating to Winston and Giles.

"We're going to need more chairs for the party," she said. "Maybe we can rent —"

"You're more than welcome to use chairs from the meeting room," Max said. "No one ever actually meets in there anyway."

"Oh. Okay, thanks, Max." Buffy smiled at him, then said, "Why don't you all sit down. Spike has beer and other adult stuff that tastes terrible but some people like it…"

Giles sank into a chair and gestured for Winston to take the couch. Buffy watched his expression carefully as he stared back and forth between the two men, one of whom seemed so young, and yet who could say it had been "decades" since the two mages had worked together. The other of whom looked only somewhat older. If asked to guess Max's age, Buffy would have been hard put to even narrow it down to a range, never mind anything more specific. It seemed Giles was having the same problem.

"Once again, I am reminded that you are older than you seem," he said to Winston. "I don't suppose you'd care to be more specific as to how long it has been since you two were… colleagues?"

"I would not," Winston said as he settled onto the couch and nodded at Spike's silent question as he held up a bottle of beer. He accepted the bottle with a grateful smile, and took a large swallow while Spike handed out bottles of beer to the other two men. When he'd finished with their guests and handed Buffy a Diet Coke, Spike sat on the other end of the couch from Winston.

Buffy frowned at him, wondering if placing himself between the two mages was a smart thing to do, remembering his comment about lightning bolts. He smiled at her and said, "Go ahead and sit, love. If these two want to go at it, there probably isn't much either one of us can do about it. Isn't that right, gents?" He finished by turning his attention to the men on either side of him, smiling at first one, then the other.

"I can assure you any differences we had are well in the past, and we pose no danger to anyone in this room." Winston glanced at Max. "Isn't that true, Master Maxmillian?"

Max nodded. "Quite true, and please call me Max. I have not been an instructor for a very long time. I live a quiet life with few responsibilities."

Winston raised his eyebrows. "So it would seem. How and why have you managed to remain hidden for so long? And why are you permitting me to find you now?"

"As to why and how I have remained hidden—I believe you understand why." He gestured to the others in the room. "It is up to you whether or not you share that with your friends. The how should be fairly obvious, as even you didn't know until you'd studied my security system and seen me in the doorway. And you've been living in the same small city for over a year."

Winston nodded. "Quite right. The wards were not noticeable until I was actual close enough to test them. You and your surroundings would appear to be quite ordinary to anyone else. And so quite safe from unwanted visitors," he added.

"See, Slayer? I told you we didn't have to lock our door." Spike tipped his own beer at Max, who gave him a faint smile of acknowledgement.

"And that brings us back to why you are here now and willing to let me know you're still in the world. Not," Winston added, "that I'm not happy to know you are, but if you wanted to remain unnoticed, I'm sure you could have found a way."

"Probably so," Max said with no trace of false modesty. "But it has occurred to me that the current danger could be disruptive to my need for a quiet life, and I thought it was time to acknowledge it and perhaps offer my services."

"You know about Glory?" Buffy jumped to her feet.

"There was no way not to once I'd felt the initial spells." He smiled at Winston and Giles. "Good job on taking care of the first one without causing side effects," he said. "That was well done."

Winston looked pleased, then caught himself and muttered, "Once a teacher, always a teacher," causing Max to shrug before he continued.

"But the other spell that is hiding the Key is still in effect. I am every bit as much a part of it as everyone else —" He sent a sharp look at Buffy and Spike. "—with the possible exception of my extraordinary tenants. However, I am not unaware that it exists. And somewhat in awe of those who created it, if I am honest."

"Yeah, those monks were pretty clever," Buffy said blandly. "It's kind of mind-boggling." She managed to agree with Max, without actually saying what it was the monks had done with the Key or admitting that there might be more to their own story than he knew.

Max gave her a gentle smile and didn't pursue it. "In any event, it is obvious that defeating a hellgod without destroying its human host, might require the combined efforts of everyone in this room, as well as Buffy's young witch friend, who has yet to even grasp how much potential she has."

"You mean Willow? I mean, yeah, she's pretty powerful, but she didn't even notice your wards until I asked her to try to find them. And you've never met her."

Winston gave a wry smile. "Trust me, not being able to find those wards has less to do with Willow's native abilities and more to do with her training." He gave Giles an apologetic glance. "Not that I don't sympathize with the difficulty you've had getting her to accept magical advice, Rupert. I wasn't faulting you, only pointing out that at this time her abilities far exceed her knowledge of how to use them. In spite of our best efforts to guide her, she has not had the same… intensive… mentoring I have."

Giles sighed and nodded. "My own training and abilities are adequate, at best. Only what watchers are expected to know how to do— disinvite spells and the like. And a few things from my misspent youth… none of which would be useful in this case."

"Ah, don't underrate yourself, Giles. You never know when we might want to summon a demon." Buffy grinned at him as he glared at her. "Maybe we could sic Eyghon on Glory."

"I suspect he is already on her payroll," Winston said dryly. He turned to Max. "So, you are suggesting you are willing to help us prevent Glory from finding her Key?"

Max nodded. "If you will have me, I would contribute whatever I can."


	12. Chapter 12

**CHAPTER TWELVE**

Spike rose to his feet and crossed the room to put his bottle on the counter. "These fancy wards you've got. Might they work to hide and protect the Key?"

Max sighed. "From her minions, I'm sure they would. From the hellgod herself? I really don't know. I suspect not. On the other hand, with four adepts —" Giles snorted and Max said, "Don't underrate yourself. The Council chose to smother your magical abilities rather than provide proper training. You might be surprised what you're capable of."

"You were sayin'?" While Giles appeared shocked, then thoughtful, Spike brought the focus back to the important subject. "With the help of…."

Max continued. "If we accept that none of us is anxious to kill the human host, and that Buffy is actually opposed to it…." He shot a look at Buffy who felt uncomfortably as if he was very aware of her weakening iron-clad rule about killing humans. "It would seem that we have no choice but to, at best keep the Key hidden, and at worst, take on the hellgod and hope to defeat her."

"I can do that if I have the hammer," Buffy said. "But Anya and Willow are getting along better now and I don't think there will be any messed up spells to bring the troll back this time."

There was a long silence. Buffy paled as she realized what she'd just said. She turned wide eyes on Max, who smiled in satisfaction.

"Ah. So that's it," he said. "You're here to prevent some future event that hasn't gone well for any of us."

Spike shrugged and put an arm around Buffy. "You might say that," he said. "And just so we're clear, I'm here to take care of Glory whatever way I can. If that means killing her host…." He bared his fangs. "Whatever it takes to keep Buffy and the Bit safe. I'll sort out the right or wrong of it later."

Max nodded. "I'd expect no less of you. But I feel I should make it clear that I share the Slayer's reluctance to take a relatively innocent human life if there is any other possibility. And if that is, in fact, what we would be doing," he finished cryptically, a thoughtful expression on his face.

"We could begin with moving Dawn in here with us," Buffy said. "If the minions can't find her, maybe Glory will just go poof when her window closes."

Max, Giles, and Winston shared a look, that wasn't lost on Buffy.

"What?"

"I think what they're worried about, love, is that she won't go quietly. She'd probably try to bring the whole bloody county down around her ears just for spite."

Buffy glared at him and he shrugged.

"It's what I'd do," he mumbled.

"That is the danger," Winston agreed. "We already know she doesn't handle frustration well—" Spike snorted and Winston gave him a smirk. "Some of us are more familiar with her reaction to frustration than others. But even the rest of us can well imagine what a hellgod temper tantrum might do."

"So, we need to kill her while she's in her godly body. And I so did not mean she has a god-like body!" Buffy said. She narrowed her eyes when Giles and Spike exchanged looks, causing them both to clear their throats and agree quickly.

Winston immediately wiped the smile off his face, while Max just wore his normal amiable expression.

Buffy sank back down on her chair.

"Are you two guys gonna tell us what the plan is? Cause it doesn't sound like it includes slaying and biting, so I'm not sure what Spike and I would do in a magical way."

"If it were possible to destroy the god magically, I'm sure the monks who are responsible for the Key's excellent disguise would have done so already. Have no fear, you and Spike will have a role to play. If nothing else, you will be able to whittle down the number of her servants, freeing us to concentrate on her."

"And the Knights are coming, love," Spike said. "Don't forget they want to destroy the Key before Glory gets it—her."

"Oh, those guys. Yeah. They don't have much going for them except really out of style outfits and swords, though, do they? I mean, I think they're all human, just wacko."

"Knights?"

Winston responded before Buffy could.

"The Knights of Byzantium. Their stated purpose is to prevent Glorificus from achieving her goal. As is ours. Unfortunately, their proposed method is to first destroy the Key. So, once they discover what it is…."

"Ah. I see. An unnecessary roadblock to keeping the Key safe."

"Yeah. They were a big pain in my ass," Buffy said. "They didn't bother Glory. She just brainsucked the ones that found her, and killed the rest of them with a wave of her hand. But we had to fight them the old-fashioned way. And they were trying to kill Dawn."

Max and Winston exchanged glances again.

"I suppose we could…." Winston began.

"We can't afford to be drained," Max said. "It might be easier to just send them back where they came from, perhaps with some misinformation."

Winston nodded. "Max and I will work on a solution to that problem. It shouldn't be terribly difficult to send them back to their place of origin, convinced they were searching in the wrong place."

"That would be awesome." Buffy bit her lip. "I don't suppose you guys would want to let Willow in on some of this stuff? I mean I know she might get in the way, but —"

"On the contrary," Winston said. "It is exactly the sort of joint effort she could learn a lot from, while being useful at the same time."

"Great. You can talk to her about it tomorrow night."

Both men looked at her with raised eyebrows.

"My—our—party? You're coming, aren't you? I mean now that you already know each other and aren't going to get into a fight or something."

"I would be delighted," Winston said.

"As would I," Max added. "But now, perhaps Winston and I… and Mr. Giles… should adjourn to my apartment where we can discuss ways and means and Winston and I can catch up on…things."

Giles spoke up quickly. "As much as would enjoy learning more about you, I suspect you and Winston will enjoy your reunion much more without the presence of someone who knows nothing about your past."

"Wow. Giles isn't insisting on knowing everything and writing it down in his journals. Somebody needs to check to make sure he's really Giles and not a… robot or something."

"Trust me, my curiosity is killing me," Giles said with a rueful shake of his head, "but I'm confident they will fill us in later with whatever we need to know."

"Thank you, Rupert. I appreciate your understanding, and you can be sure I will satisfy your curiosity as some point." Winston smiled as he stood up and joined Max at the door. "I'll find my own way home later this evening."

"Okay then. You're going upstairs with Max, Giles is going home, and we're going to do a quick patrol in case any vamps are stupid enough to be out and about this close to Christmas." Buffy walked with them to the door. "And we'll see everybody tomorrow for a Christmas Eve party, right?"

 **XXX**

Buffy stood in the bedroom doorway, Spike behind her with his arms around her. In front of them, their guests mingled, talking, eating the snacks Buffy had put out, and drinking from the cooler full of beer and soft drinks, or the bottles of whiskey Spike had set out on the kitchen counter.

"It's going okay, huh?" Buffy leaned back against his chest.

"It's going brilliantly, love. You've made this little hole in the ground into a real home."

She smiled her thanks, but poked him with her elbow. "You better not let Max hear you call it a hole in the ground."

"No chance of that, love. We probably live in the safest place in Sunnydale. Strikes me as the best place to be and not one I want to give up anytime soon."

Buffy watched as Max and Winston came toward them with a puzzled Willow in tow.

"May we borrow the bedroom for a few moments while we chat with Willow? Rupert will be joining us as soon as he frees himself from the attentions of your mother's friend."

Buffy grinned as she watched Giles trying to signal Joyce with his eyes that he needed rescuing from the co-worker she'd brought with her. Finally, he said something and Sue, the assistant manager of Joyce's gallery, nodded her head. Giles made his way quickly to the bedroom.

"What did you tell her?" Buffy asked, making no attempt to hide her grin.

"I excused myself to use the facilities," he said. "Please let me in so she can't see where I'm going."

Buffy and Spike moved out of the way and allowed Giles to enter the room.

"We'll just go entertain the other guests and hope they aren't wondering what Red is doing in here with three blokes," Spike snickered.

"You guys just better hope nobody else wants to use the bathroom…."

"We won't be long," Winston said. "We just need to bring Willow into the fold, so to speak."

 **XXX**

At the end of the evening, and after Joyce had managed to talk Sue out of staying behind in hopes that Giles would take her home, almost everyone had left except Willow and Tara.

Buffy dropped into the big chair and sighed.

"It went okay, didn't it?" she asked, earning a smile from Tara and an enthusiastic nod from Willow.

"I think it went great." Willow frowned briefly. "But I don't know why you didn't tell me you landlord was… whatever he is. He and Winston weren't really clear about that."

"We didn't know. I mean, we knew he could put up wards, but when you didn't feel them, I just figured they weren't very strong. And I haven't had a chance to find out what the deal was when they knew each other a long time ago. But Winston called him "Master Maxmillian" the first time he saw him, so I think maybe Max was a magic teacher or something." Buffy cocked her head at Willow. "They didn't tell you either?"

"They kind of hinted at it, and I can tell Max was a teacher. He's got that whole 'I'm going to let you figure this out yourself' vibe going. Anyway, he said he can tell I'm really strong, and they need me to help them when they try to stop Glory." Willow beamed at Buffy, who struggled to nod supportively.

"Well, that's great. So you three, or four, I guess with Giles—"

"Yeah. I'm not sure what they want with Giles, but I guess the more the merrier, even if one of us isn't as strong as the others…."

Buffy glared at Spike who was trying to cover his scoff by pretending he'd choked on his drink. She stood up and stretched.

"Well, if you and Tara are ready to go, we'll walk you home."

"Oh, we'll be fine," Willow said, with a casual wave of her hand. "We can make a little safe bubble to walk in so nothing can get us. And if it tries, I'll throw a ball of fire at it."

Tara smiled at Buffy and Spike, who was frowning. "I'm sure we'll be fine. But thanks. You guys are probably tired and want to clean up and get some sleep."

"Okay. If you're sure. We'll see you tomorrow at Mom's for dinner, right?"

"Oh yes. I promised to bring the pies." Tara bobbed her head. "We'll be there."

By that time, they were at the door that Spike was holding for them. "If you're absolutely sure—" he started, pausing when Willow glared. "Right then. Off you go. Happy Christmas, or whatever the Wicca version of that is."

"Jewish Wicca's don't have a version," Willow said. "But Tara does."

"Good night. Be careful going home." Buffy watched them walk down the path to the main sidewalk, seeing them pause after they were away from Max's protective wards and do their own little spell that encased them in a barely noticeable transparent bubble.

"I guess they were right," Buffy said, leaning into Spike's side.

"Looks like," he agreed. "I wonder if they knew how to do that before tonight?"

"You think Max taught her?"

Spike shrugged, pulling her inside so he could close the door. "It's probably a pretty simple spell. Would have been easy for him to give it to Red as a gesture of good will."

Buffy nodded. "She was pretty snotty about Giles, wasn't she? Maybe I should tell her what Max said about his power that the Council just didn't develop."

"Let her find out for herself. I s'pect this is going to be quite a learning experience for Willow. Gonna be fun to watch."

"Are you ever planning to forgive her for saying she was going to set your chip off?"

"Forgive, maybe. Forget, nope."

 **XXXX**

Buffy's birthday came and went rather uneventfully for her. The gang planned to gather at the Bronze, with Winston and Giles assuring them that they would "be there in spirit".

"I think they just don't want to have fun with us," Buffy muttered as they walked in and looked around for their friends.

"I think they don't count the sort of fun you and the Scoobies have as actual amusement," Spike snickered.

"You're here! And you're just as old as they are… I think…"

He shrugged. "I'm here because you're here. And I'm not willing to bet on which of us is older. I may or may not have a few years on Winston, but I suspect Max might have me beat by more than a bit."

They sat down at the big table where Willow, Anya, and Dawn were seated, looking around for Xander and Anya.

"Where's—okay here they come."

"Hi, birthday girl. We got slowed up by one of Glory's scabby little minions." Both Xander and Anya were panting slightly, although they looked very pleased with themselves.

"He thought Xander might be the Key! Can you imagine that? The Key, a person?" Anya tossed her head, having caught her breath before Xander did.

Buffy paled a little. "Heh," she said. "So how'd you get away?"

"We double-teamed him. Anya started screaming for you, and I hit him with a piece of broken fence. And then we ran. Fast." Xander was out of breath again by the time he finished speaking.

"Good on ya," Spike said, handing Xander the beer he'd just purchased. "Here, you might need this."

Xander looked at him suspiciously, but took it with a nod of thanks.

Buffy exchanged looks with Spike. "If she's started targeting my friends…."

"Yep. Way ahead of you, love. Time for some confessions?"

"You're going to tell them?" Dawn's question caught them all by surprise. Her gaze was focused on Buffy.

"Is that all right? Everybody's going to have to start being careful now. Especially you… and Mom, I guess." She groaned. "I'm going to have to have Max or Winston put some wards on the house."

"I could do that," Willow said.

"Probably you could," Buffy soothed. "But they're the experts. We'll need you to be ready to send her off to… wherever you sent her in my time."

"I sent her away?"

"Well, not forever, but you did buy us some time. So that might be the spell to be working on. That and your bubble. You were able to put up a protective shield around us all that kept the Knights of Byzantium out. Which I guess was just a big version of the bubble you use now."

"Why don't I just do that around your house? Then you won't have to worry about Glory coming after your mom or Dawn."

"I've been kind of hoping we won't have to," Buffy admitted. "Since she was coming after me, and I don't live there now, I've been kind of hoping she won't notice them. But I guess that was too much to hope for. If she's going after Xander, who isn't seen with me all that often, she probably isn't going to overlook my mom or my sister."

"Well, she'll know they aren't the Key, so all she could do is take them hostage until you give it to her, right?"


	13. Chapter 13

**CHAPTER THIRTEEN**

Buffy was silent as she looked from Spike to Dawn, then back at her friends who were staring at her.

Willow spoke first. "What aren't you telling us?"

Buffy took a deep breath as Spike moved behind her and put a supportive hand on her shoulder. She took Dawn's hand in hers and gave what she hoped was a reassuring squeeze.

"Okay, here's what you don't know, and that I was hoping we'd have taken care of without having to tell you." She chewed her lip. "You know how Glory's minion thought Xander might be the Key? Well… she wasn't as far off as you might think."

Anya, who had been present for more mysterious conversations between Buffy, Dawn, and Giles than anyone else, gasped. "It's Dawn, isn't it? She's the Key. That's why you don't want her out of your sight."

"Well that's just ridicu …." Willow paused, her eyes growing wide as she saw the expressions on their faces. "Oh. My. God."

"Yes," Buffy said, squeezing Dawn's hand again before releasing it. "The first thing you need to know is that Dawn _is_ my sister. End of discussion on that." She glared around at them. "But, you also need to know that she didn't exist in her current form until a few months ago when the monks who've been hiding the Key from Glory for a gazillion years—"

"Give or take," Spike added dryly.

Buffy waved away his comment. "Anyway, these monks knew Glory was getting closer and they wouldn't be able to stop her, so they somehow turned the Key into a human girl made from my blood… with my DNA … and sent her to me to protect. And they somehow managed to insert her into our lives as if she'd always been here." A babble of objections and questions broke out until Buffy held up her hand and Spike growled at them to be quiet.

"I don't know how they did it. Nobody knows how they did it. But they did. And it worked. Except for Spike and me, who already had our own memories, and maybe Giles and Winston…." She shook her head. "Although I'm not sure they would have believed me if we hadn't already told them about her before she was here and made them put it in their notes."

"I can't blame them. It's pretty hard to swallow," Willow said. "That's some really powerful magic!" Her curiosity and envy were almost palpable, and Buffy could hear Spike's low growl.

"The point is, Dawn is the Key that Glory needs to get herself back where she came from, and obviously we can't let that happen."

"What part of Dawn does she need? If it's something simple, like a piece of her hair…."

"It's blood," Dawn said softly. " _My_ blood." Buffy put a reassuring arm around her and said, "Not this time."

"So, what happened in your time? Does this have anything to do with when you say you died?" Xander looked as if he was still dubious, and kept sending sidelong glances at Dawn who had shrunk into Buffy's side as much as she could.

"Long story short—Glory got hold of Dawn, and while I was fighting the hellgod on the ground, her minions got Dawn to the top of this stupid tower they built, and her pet demon threw Spike off the tower when he tried to save her. Then Doc—the demon—cut Dawn so she would bleed where they needed her blood to open the portal to the hell dimension. By the time I was finished with Glory, the portal was already opening, scary things were coming through, and the only way to close it was with more of Dawn's blood." Buffy paused to look at their faces. "Which, I'd like to remind you, is also _my_ blood. I did what I had to do to save Dawn's life and close the portal. I jumped into it. Portal very owie, by the way," she added as an afterthought. "Then it closed up, gravity was still in effect, and my body fell all the way to the ground. Bye bye, Buffy."

Xander glared up at Spike, who was now clenching Buffy's shoulders so hard she winced.

"You let Dawn get stabbed, and then you let Buffy jump into a portal to die? And you want us to believe you're on our side?"

"Wasn't my finest hour," Spike said, shoulders sagging. "If it hadn't been for promising Buffy I'd take care of the Bit, I probably would've just stayed there at the bottom of the tower and waited for the sun 'stead of draggin' myself away…. But I'd made a promise," he added softly, stroking Dawn's hair.

Dawn looked at his anguished face with new understanding, and reached a hand toward him. Even Xander, seeing Spike's expression and the way Buffy and Dawn tried to soothe him with touches and murmured words the others couldn't hear, looked sympathetic and somewhat ashamed of himself.

"Shit," he said under his breath.

"Good-bye, Buffy; hello worst 147 days of my life. Bit's too. She'd lost her mother and then her sister in the space of just a few months. Nothing left for her but a bunch of grieving people and one useless vampire that couldn't even walk for a week." Spike shook himself.

"But that was then. This is now and we've been given another chance to make it come out right."

"What's the plan?" Willow seemed to have accepted the situation and was ready to move on. "Are we—Winston and Max and me… and Giles—going to join forces to throw Glory back where she came from?"

"I don't know what the plan is for sure yet. Max and Winston… and you," she added hastily, "are going to put strong wards around the shop and Mom's house, Spike's crypt, maybe Dawn's school? I dunno. Max doesn't think wards can stop Glory if she's really determined, but they'll probably stop the minions and definitely those Renaissance Fair rejects. If nothing else, they can buy us some time."

Buffy focused on Anya. "In our time, Willow was trying to do a spell using some crystal thing that was in the shop, and somehow, instead of what she was hoping for, we got a visit from a troll. Which didn't go well, obviously, but I got his hammer and that was really helpful against Glory. I guess I won't have it this time." Buffy looked wistful for a moment. "Turned out he knew you, so that was—"

"Olaf? Willow brought Olaf here?" Anya turned to stare at Willow. "What were you thinking?"

Willow glared at her. "How the hell would I know? If he knew you, it might have been your fault he showed up."

"Who's Olaf?" Xander asked, staring back and forth between Anya and Willow.

"My ex. I turned him into a troll for cheating on me. That's what attracted D'Hoffryn's attention, and he made me a job offer." Anya smiled, waiting for Xander's appreciation. When it didn't come, she turned her back on him, asking, "What kind of spell did Willow do that brought Olaf here? She must have really screwed that one up!"

Willow's face went white, then red, and Buffy wasn't sure she couldn't see a flash of black eyes before Tara's hand on her arm and gentle whispering had Willow taking a visibly deep breath to calm herself.

Taking advantage of the momentary peace, Buffy said quickly, "I'm not sure what the spell was supposed to be. I think the troll—Olaf—was trapped in the crystal by witches. He really didn't like witches… and he wasn't too happy with you, either. But maybe you wanted to go somewhere else? Where there are trolls….?" she finished weakly. "It doesn't matter. You and Willow are getting along much better this time, and I'm sure you don't want to leave Xander, so it's all right. We'll just have to get along without a magic troll hammer. Sorry I mentioned it."

With a "humph" of disgust, Willow got up and pulled Tara to the dance floor where they were obviously having an animated discussion.

Xander stared at Anya. "You made a troll?"

"That was me then. This is me now," Anya said. "Although, if I had my powers, I might be able to…. Nah. I don't think even D'Hoffryn would take on a hellgod."

"I'm sorry I brought it up. I hope Willow doesn't stay mad." Buffy frowned at the dance floor, relaxing when Willow nodded her head and smiled at Tara, moving closer so they could sway together in a slow dance.

"So, which one of us ratted Dawn out in your time?" Xander asked.

"It's not going to happen now, so there's no reason for you to know. And it wasn't 'ratted out'. I told you that before. It was an accident caused by Glory's mindsucking."

A more mellow Willow and Tara came back to the table and began sipping their drinks.

"Okay, what's going on now?" Willow asked as if she'd never looked like she wanted to turn Anya into a toad.

"We're just talking about alternatives to me taking on Glory with a troll hammer."

"You don't think you're going to need it?"

"Well, I'm hoping not, 'cause I won't have it. The main thing we need to worry about right now, is keeping all of you safe from Glory or her creepy little minions. I'm not sure we can fit everybody into our apartment…."

"The crypt is bigger," Spike pointed out.

"Crypt?"

"Yeah, remember I showed you guys this summer? Spike has a crypt that he lived in, in our time. And he still has it, we just haven't needed to use it often, and he lets Clem borrow it. But it's there, and it's plenty big enough for all of us if we need to hunker down somewhere for a while."

"All of us?" Anya looked less than pleased.

"I hope not. But it's something to keep in mind. In our time, Glory captured Spike and tried to torture him into telling her where the Key was." She stared around the table, her expression grim. "He survived because he's already dead _and_ he has vampire strength and healing. None of you have those advantages, and I'd like to keep you that way. That means keeping you safe, not just from her, but from her scabby little gofers that could capture you."

Buffy looked at Willow, who seemed to be getting angry again. "You were able to do a lot to help us be safe, but you couldn't get rid of her permanently. And if she gets her hands on you, we lose one fourth of our magical arsenal."

Willow looked like she was going to argue, then sighed. "Okay. I get that. Do we have a plan then?"

"We're going to work on the plan at the next Scooby meeting. Which is probably going to be at our apartment since Max doesn't like to leave the building unless he has to."

"What's he hiding from?" Anya asked.

"We don't know, and it's none of our business. If he wants to explain why he's here, he will. And if he doesn't, he won't. As long as he's on our side, I don't give a bloody fig who or what he wants to hide from." Spike glared at her, earning a haughty sniff in his direction.

"He's risking that anyway, just by helping us. There's no sense bringing Glory's attention to him until we have to." Buffy frowned. "It would be great if we had a better idea what she does and doesn't know about us." She shrugged. "But anyway. It's my birthday, and she's not invited, so let's have a good time!"

"I'll drink to that." Xander tipped his bottle up.

 **XXX**

"Do you want to come with me when I go tell Warren he needs to shut down his skeezy sexbot before she hurts someone?"

Spike rolled his eyes, but said, "S'pose I should. It's not like I'm going to come shopping there in a few months." He frowned. "Didn't he shoot you?"

"Yeah, he did. It was at the end of next year, while you were off getting your soul. He killed Tara, and would have killed me except Willow went crazy and saved me by pulling the bullet out….to use it on him."

"Why don't I just visit him by myself and tear his throat out?" Spike's expression was deadly serious.

"Because you can't do that. It will change everything."

"He dies anyway, doesn't he? Or he will, if Red can't control herself. I hope you don't think I'm going to let that miserable bastard shoot you and Tara?"

"Crap. I didn't think about that…. It's going to be all different from here on, isn't it?"

"We knew that from the start, love."

"Well, I'm not going to let you tear his throat out… but I guess we need to let him know we'll be watching him from now on. Maybe we can keep some of that bad stuff from happening next year."

"Could find Andrew and shake him until his ideas about being evil fall out. That might be fun."

Buffy laughed. "That one I might be able to get behind. And I don't think Jonathan will need a lot of convincing. If Warren can't find minions, maybe he won't be able to cause as much trouble."

"Aside from taking care of his jilted sexbot, you didn't have to worry about him much this year, did you?" Spike frowned. "I don't think he'd hooked up with the other two losers yet. I didn't see them when I…. Nevermind."

Buffy just glared at him, then sighed. "I'm over it. If it wasn't for the bot, I'd never have known what you did for Dawn… and me. It was a gross and disgusting idea, but she turned out to be useful in the long run."

He ran a hand down her cheek and tucked a stray lock of hair back. "And she wasn't even close to the real thing. Knew that the second you kissed me. Couldn't have gone back to… to…." He stopped, frowning, clearly at a loss for words.

Buffy sighed again. "The word you're looking for is 'using'. You used her because she was a thing and that was her purpose." She nudged at his hand with her nose. "You used a robot, I used a man who loved me. Which of us comes out the worst in that contest?"

He shook his head and pulled her into a tight embrace. "Don't ever think that, sweetheart. I loved every minute of the time you spent 'using' me. Never doubt it. Did I wish for more? You know I did. But you let me love you for a little while, and that was worth everything to me."

"I don't deserve you," she mumbled into his chest. "Nobody deserves to be loved like that."

"You do," he said fiercely, tightening his already uncomfortable hug. "I could do good deeds for the rest of my unlife and I still wouldn't deserve to have you in it."

"Uh, Spike? Air? I need it?"

He released his grip and let her lean back in a much looser embrace. "Sorry, love. I get a mite upset when you say things like that."

"Note to self, don't get into a who-loves-who-the-most argument with Spike. He might smother you to win it." Her grin belied her words and he smiled back at her.

"Alright, we're off to beard the robot maker in his den… or his mum's basement, as the case might be."

 **XXXX**

"Well, that went well," Buffy snorted.

"Could have been worse," Spike said with a shrug. "His mum heard us talking and got a clue what he's been doing, his bird heard the whole thing, so she's out of there—"

"Crap! I forgot about Trina. We're going to have to warn her next year not to have a drink with Warren."

Spike swore and started to turn around. "Forgot about that. The bastard killed her and set you up to take the blame. I _am_ going to tear his throat out."

Buffy hung on his arm, pulling him back the way they were going.

"No, you aren't. We're just going to watch them like hawks next year and make sure he never has a chance to kidnap her, or to do any of those things. We'll know who's behind stuff this time, and where to find him if we need to."

"You're assuming next year is going to be anything like the one we remember," he said, falling into step with her. "We aren't going to know what the hell is going to happen next if we do what we need to do this year."

"Then we'll wing it," she said firmly. "It's what we do. We figure things out and we handle them."

Neither one mentioned their fear that Buffy's not dying might mean a very different relationship between them.


	14. Chapter 14

**CHAPTER FOURTEEN**

"Thanks for letting us use the building's all purpose room, Max. I don't think our apartment would be a good place to hold a meeting." She looked at the people sitting around the table in the middle of the room. "This is a lot better."

"You're quite welcome, Buffy. As it was my request we hold it in my building, it seemed only fair that I provide some space in which to do so. I thought this would be more comfortable than your living room. Even though that worked well for your party," he hastened to add when she frowned.

"Well this looks more meeting-y," she said with a shrug. "So thanks." She looked at Giles. "I think everybody's here. Do you want to start?"

"It's your meeting, Buffy. I suggest you chair it."

Buffy made no attempt to pretend she wasn't willing to be in charge. She walked to the head of the table and sat down.

"Okay, does anybody have anything to contribute since last time? Magic people?"

Willow raised her hand. "I had an idea."

"Um… okay? What is it?" She cast a quick glance at Giles and Winston, but they just shrugged.

"What if Anya and I can figure out what I was trying to do in your time that brought Otto—"

"Olaf!" Anya corrected.

"Olaf." Willow glared at her. "If we can find the right crystal, and I can figure out how to bring just the hammer here without the troll, then you'd have it if you needed it."

"Well, yes, that would be very helpful… but how could you do that? I don't know exactly what you were trying to do or why it didn't work, or even why it ended up freeing Olaf from the crystal. All I know about it is that it was you and Anya and that's what happened."

"But if I _could_ do it, it would help, right?"

Buffy looked helplessly at Winston and Giles before stammering, "Ye… yes, of course it would. But I don't see how—"

"That's okay. You don't have to understand how I do it, as long as it gets done."

Willow sat back with a satisfied smile on her face, ignoring the way Anya was glaring at her. She didn't acknowledge the little frown furrowing Tara's brow, nor the interested expression on Max's face, although she did send Giles and Winston a challenging stare. They both stared back, their expressions as neutral as they could make them. Buffy just sighed and filed "talk about Willow" away as something to worry about later.

"Okay, then. Anybody else?"

Xander surprised everyone by speaking up next. "Anya has something to say," he said, nudging her.

Anya stopped glaring long enough to say, "I've been thinking about what's going to happen to Buffy and Spike when they change something as big as not letting her die… or be resurrected," she added with a sidelong glance at Willow, who interrupted.

"I've already said I won't bring her back if she dies. That's why _I'm_ trying to think of ways to keep her from dying this time."

Pretending she'd never heard Willow, Anya continued. "I don't think they _are_ going to stop being a couple just because the future changes. When I was a vengeance demon, I could go back and forth in time and it never took away my memory of what I went back there to do. I could remember what the time I came back to was like before I left, but I also knew why it was different when I came back." She frowned. "Of course, I wasn't going back in my own time, and I didn't hang around to see what happened after that."

Buffy's expression, which had been cautiously happy, faded as Anya finished speaking.

"So, you don't really _know_ that they'll remember what their world was like before." Willow gave a snort of contempt, earning another glare from Anya, who then turned her gaze on Spike.

"You know what you can do to make sure the two of you stay together. I really don't know why you haven't done it yet."

Xander sputtered and coughed, matching the expression on Giles's face as they both jumped to the same conclusion.

"You think he should _turn_ me?" Buffy said, rising to her feet.

"Easy, love. That's not what she's talking about." Spike put a reassuring hand on Buffy's shoulder, never taking his eyes off Anya. "At least I don't think it is…" Buffy sank down into her chair, still staring at Anya.

"Of course it isn't!" Anya waved her hands in indignation. "Why would we want a slayer to be a vampire? Do I look stupid?" She subsided. "I don't understand why you haven't done it yet, that's all. You're wasting all this time worrying about keeping your relationship, when you should be worrying about how to keep a hellgod from killing us all!"

Buffy looked up at Spike. "What the hell is she talking about?"

"I'll explain later, love. She's right about one thing. We don't need to waste valuable planning time fretting about it now." The look he sent Anya made it very clear he didn't want to continue that line of thought.

"We _will_ talk about this later," Buffy muttered, then gave herself a mental shake. "Okay, back to Glory. Do we know anything else?" She glanced at Giles and then the two mages. Giles spoke up first.

"I have researched some more, and also been speaking to the researchers at the Council, and it appears that Glory's human host may not be the innocent victim we've been assuming he is. The very human body and persona is a host for the hellgod's essence, but he is _not_ a separate entity. When Glory returns to her home dimension, he will vanish just as surely as will the less human body she uses when in her god-form."

Spike's eyes lit up. "Then killing him wouldn't be like taking a human life!"

"It's complicated…" Giles began, then seeing Buffy's face fall, he added quickly, "But, essentially, yes. Ben _is_ human, and when Glory's energy runs low, that is the primary form to which she reverts, and she has limited influence over it. But he cannot exist separately from her… and we may then assume the reverse is true. She will cease to exist if and when he does."

"Let me make sure I've got this. If Glory gets to go back, Ben disappears? If she doesn't get to go back and I find a way to kill her, Ben disappears anyway. But if we kill Ben, we also kill Glory and they both go away?"

"As best we understand it at this time. I will, of course, continue to research."

"Wow." Buffy leaned back in the chair.

"This does put a different face on things," Max said.

"I think I feel a need to visit the hospital," Spike said, moving toward the door.

"No!"

He whirled and stared at Buffy in surprise. "What do you mean 'No'?"

"I don't mean, no, not ever. Just…. If he changes while he's there, innocent people could get hurt. Even if somebody sees you kill him… I just think we need to catch him away from other people."

"At which times, he's surrounded by hard-to-kill ugly little buggers."

Winston put a hand on Spike's arm, not flinching when Spike snarled at him. "Let us work on this a little," he said, gesturing to include Giles and Willow, as well as Max. I think the safest way to make this work, is to find a way to keep Glory in her human form long enough for you to be able to kill him safely away from innocent bystanders and, with luck, her minions."

"Can you do that?"

"It remains to be seen. But it would be the safest way to go if it's possible. We would have to be able to drain her energy sufficiently to keep her in her most vulnerable form for as long as it took to for you to get to him."

"That sounds like a plan!" Xander looked around the table. "Tell me that doesn't sound a lot better than towers and stabbing and falling and…."

"It does," Buffy agreed. She smiled at Winston. "She got a lot of her energy from the Knights when they tried to attack her. If we can get rid of them, she'll have a lot less energy." She frowned. "Unless she starts randomly draining regular people…. But that'll be harder for her to do I think."

Willow looked somewhat miffed that her idea to bring Olaf's hammer to Sunnydale might not be necessary, but she smiled and nodded when Max suggested she remain behind to join the three men in working on ways to concentrate their magic on a hellgod.

 **XXX**

The meeting broke up into more of a social occasion with the magic people on one side of the table—including Tara, who Max seemed to be quite fond of—and Buffy and Spike with Xander and Anya.

Anya stared at Spike. "Well, are you going to do it?"

"I'm going to discuss it with Buffy. Privately."

Spike's cold glare had Xander putting his arm around Anya, saying, "Leave it, sweetie. Don't make the vampire mad."

"We _are_ going to talk about this," Buffy said.

"Said we would, didn't I?"

"Well, why don't we go do it now? After we patrol." She stood up and glanced at Xander and Anya. "Do you guys want us to walk you out?"

"Thanks, but we'll be all right. I'm packing tonight." Xander patted his jacket pocket, then pulled out a water pistol. "Sunnydale's best holy water."

Buffy furrowed her brow, but Spike laughed. "Good plan," he said. "But not sure how much help it will be against Glory's scabby little minions."

"Oh, I've got that covered too," he said, flourishing an amulet. "Willow gave us these things to wear that will make us grow thorns if anything tries to capture one of us."

Buffy and Spike exchanged looks.

"Well, I can't imagine what could go wrong there…." Buffy said dubiously.

Anya nodded vigorously. "That was my reaction too, but Xander trusts her." She made a face that Xander couldn't see, silently begging for help.

"Ah, well, we're on our way out anyway, so we'll just walk along with you. No sense growing thorns if you don't have to."

Anya mouthed 'thank you' at them as Xander strode confidently out the door, waving to Willow and Tara. Spike followed behind him as Buffy dropped back beside Anya.

"So, you don't think there's any chance Spike and I won't be together if we change the course of the next several years?"

Anya shrugged. "I don't see why you wouldn't be. You're here now. You have all your memories of the future you came from. Those didn't change when Winston got here, did they? And he comes from a different future that you weren't part of, doesn't he?"

Buffy nodded. "Yeah. In his future, Willow apparently went off the deep end even more than she did in ours…."

Anya's eyes lit up. "What did she do?"

"I don't know. She didn't get specific and neither did he. But hearing about it from herself was enough to make her break that My Will Be Done spell, so it must have been pretty intense."

"I don't mean what did she do in his time. I meant in yours. You said 'even more' than she did in yours."

Buffy shook her head. "Spike and I already know how to prevent what set her off, and we're planning to make sure it doesn't happen this time. It was bad. And I can't really blame her for…. You know what? It hasn't happened here and it probably won't, so I think it's one of those things we should just keep to ourselves."

"Hmmph!" was Anya's disappointed reply.

"All you need to know," Spike said, having been listening to them and dropping back beside Anya, "is that the next couple of years were, and still could be, bloody awful in one way or another for just about everybody. Most of it had to do with Buffy's death and resurrection and the problems that caused. Not saying it's all gonna be sunshine and roses if that doesn't happen, but it's got to be better, and it's got to change some of those things in some way. Makes no sense to worry anybody about them now."

"Fine," Anya muttered with little grace, then peered at him. "Are you going to do it? That thing you don't want to talk about?"

"I'm pretty sure when he said he'd talk to me in private, he meant without you and Xander," Buffy said in a tone that made it very clear that was the end of the discussion.

Which didn't stop Anya from muttering, "Fine. But if he really loved you, he would have done it by now and I wouldn't—" Spikes growl and Xander's hand over her mouth were almost simultaneous.

"Make your own way home," Buffy said, stopping and grabbing Spike's arm. "If you're all covered in thorns tomorrow, don't blame me."

"Sheesh, Buffy, you'd think Willow never did anything right. Come on, Anya. Let's go home."

Buffy and Spike watched them get into Xander's car, then exhaled in unison.

"They'll be fine, pet. Let's go find something to beat up."

"Good plan. I'll pretend I'm beating on Willow and you can pretend you're killing Anya."

They began walking toward the nearest cemetery.

 **XXX**

An hour later, they'd dusted several vampires and managed to kill two of Glory's minions with the swords they now rarely went out without.

"Time to go home?" Spike put his arm around her and nuzzled her ear. "I think I've worked out my need to shut Anya's mouth permanently."

Buffy laughed and snuggled in to his side. "Yeah, I'm not mad at Willow anymore. I'm still a little worried, but I remember all the good magic she did while Glory was here, and she really was a big help."

Spike nodded. "She was able to go in and pull you out of your head when you went all comatose on us. Got to appreciate her for that little trick."

"And Anya's been a big help to us this time with her knowledge of time travel. Not to mention, whatever it is that you keep shushing her about. Don't think I've forgotten that." She dug her elbow into his side as they began walking home. "We're in private now, so what is this thing you can do if you really love me that will make sure we don't fall apart?"

"What do you know about vampire mating rituals, love?"

She stopped walking to stare at him.

"Apparently nothing, or I'd have some idea what she's talking about."

"She's talking about a mutual claim… or maybe just me claiming you, since I'm the vampire in this relationship. Either way, it means if I bite you, and then say the right words while we're….making love, we'll be connected. You'll be marked as mine and —"

" _Bite me?_ You've already sucked my blood a couple of times. That didn't do it?"

He shook his head and urged her to walk faster. "Those little nicks didn't do anything except remind me what your blood tastes like. Remember how you said you were going to make yourself a note to let me drink your blood if I didn't remember you?"

"Yeeessss…."

"Let's get comfy, and I'll explain, yeah?" He held the door open for her, closing and locking it behind them.

"We probably don't need to do that, you know," Buffy said, pointing above their heads to where Max lived.

"Don't know exactly how they work, do I? The poof was able to get to our door last year without noticing anything. And for all we know, people who've already been here can come and go as they please as long as they aren't trying to set fire to the building or something…."

He gave her a leer. "Anyway, I have plans for you, and I don't want them interrupted by anybody, including our landlord."

"So, are you going to share those plans with me, or just let me be surprised?"

His expression got more serious as he sat down and pulled her into his lap.

"Wouldn't do that to you, love. Want you to know exactly what we're talking about and go into it with your eyes open—metaphorically speaking, know you shut your eyes when you—" He cleared his throat. "Anyway, here's the thing. I wasn't joking about those little sips I take every once in while meaning I'd know your blood anywhere, anytime. But knowing whose blood it is wouldn't prove anything except I've tasted it before, so it would tell me we know each other. And if it was the right kind of blood, it might even tell me how well we knew each other…." He got lost in that memory long enough for Buffy to know what he was remembering and poke him hard enough to snap him out of it. He laughed and continued with his explanation.

"But it wouldn't necessarily keep us the couple we are now—without those two more years of…. I _think_ we'll still be us. Nothing we've done so far has changed that, and we didn't have the getting married spell this time to wake my subconscious up to the real reason I keep coming back here."

" _That_ spell? Willow's _My Will Be Done_ spell that made us think we were in love and getting married? Are you trying to tell me…. You're just making that up!"

"Not sayin' I was in love with you then, just that it opened my eyes a bit. Dru threw me out because she said you were floating all around me. I thought it meant I needed to kill you, but after all that time we spent snogging …. I couldn't walk straight for a week. If nothing else, it got my dick rethinkin' my plans for you."

Buffy blushed. "TMI, Spike. And I still think you're full of it. That spell isn't why _I_ love _you_." She peered at him from the corners of her eyes. "But I do remember thinking you were one hell of a kisser..."

"From little seeds grow mighty trees," he replied with a grin. "Gave me something to work with, didn't it?"

"Pfffft. Off the subject. Back to what was Anya talking about."

"What Anya's going on about is me putting a claim on you, or, if… and only if… you were sure, doing a mutual claim. Which is basically a vampire version of marriage… except there's no ending it just by finding a smart lawyer to get you out. It's forever. Usually, if one dies, the other one soon follows."

He stroked her face, his expression grim. "Don't think I'd need it to tell me my life would be over if you— Not after this last year of livin' together and being there for each other every night. Can't see me facing immortality after losing something like what we have now."

"Spike, I'm still a slayer. And right now, I'm _The_ Slayer—except for Faith—and who knows where she is now? Some demon could have his one good day any time. I don't want you to die just because I do! You didn't before."

"Back then, all I had was a bit of your trust and your friendship. And even at that, if I hadn't made that promise to take care of the Bit… I dunno. Might have been okay once I got past the guilt and grief or might not. Might have just drunk myself to death."

Buffy put her hand on his cheek, saying softly, "I'm really glad you didn't. I'm not sure I ever told you that."

They gazed into each other's eyes for several minutes, his arms slowly tightening around her until she broke the gaze and sat up straighter.

"So, explain this claim thing to me."


	15. Chapter 15

**CHAPTER FIFTEEN**

"It's pretty simple, really," he said. "I have to bite you while we're making love and say 'mine'. That bite mark won't fade as easily as the others did." He stroked her neck where she'd always had very faint scars from the Master, Angel, and Dracula. He frowned and pulled his head back to look at her neck again.

"Bloody hell," he whispered.

"What?"

"Drac didn't bite you this time, and I can't see his marks anymore."

"But I remember it!"

"You've got the memory, but you don't have the scar now."

"That's just… scary. Something we did this time changed my body from what it was when we got here." She tried to smother her anxiety, but she couldn't hide her accelerated heart rate.

"Seems like it did. For the better, if you ask me." He smiled in what he was hoped a reassuring manner, only to contradict himself immediately. "But it's still a touch too unexpected to make me comfortable. I'm feeling a lot better about Anya's suggestion now…."

"We need to ask Giles about it tomorrow. And maybe Anya? She might know what's going on." Buffy frowned, but went back to the original topic. "So, where were we? You bite me and say something possessive, and then what?"

"Well to make it a real claim, you have to agree to it. You have to say 'I'm yours' or something similar to set up the claim. Without that, it just marks you as mine. Not a bad thing for a slayer to have —a master vampire's mark on her —younger vamps should back off from trying to bite you when they see it. Not that you're likely to allow any to get that close, but if they did…"

"What if I do say 'I'm yours?' Which I am, you know. Lock, stock and Buffy barrel."

He squeezed her again and the conversation got sidetracked while they kissed until Buffy was breathing hard and Spike was squirming to keep her warm bottom pressed onto his suddenly hard cock. Buffy finally tore her mouth away to ask, "So that's it? You bite me, say I'm yours, I agree to it and we're married?"

"No, love. That's just a claim. If we lost our memories, I'd know you were mine, and you'd know you belonged to me, but we might not know why… or even be happy about it. It's not like we would be mated, just… connected."

"What makes it a marriage then? And don't expect me to say 'mated'. We're not wolves or something." She snorted her dislike for his terminology and he grinned at her.

"Such a dainty little thing you are for someone who knows where that slayer power really comes from…."

"Shut up. And answer my question. What else has to happen?"

"You have to bite me back, and we repeat the claiming words in reverse. With vampires, that links their demons forever. They'd be able to feel each other, maybe communicate their thoughts if they tried hard enough, I don't know what all, for sure. It's not something that happens a lot. Most vamps don't fancy long-term relationships."

"You and Dru didn't…."

"Didn't." His voice was flat and didn't invite questions. She ignored him.

"But you will with me?"

"I would've with Dru," he admitted with a sigh. "Can't deny I wanted it. But she wouldn't. Too much in love with her precious 'daddy'."

He went very still as they both remembered that Buffy had also been very much in love with Angel. She felt him relax when she snuggled into him and said, "You know that doesn't apply to me, right? You're my long-haul guy. Angel's just…." She sighed. "Okay, he's not just an ex-boyfriend, and I'll always feel a connection, just like you do with Dru, but I'm in love with you now."

"I knew that," he said.

"Uh huh. Sure you did." Buffy gave him a moment to collect himself, then asked, "But I'm not a vampire, so what does that mean, if we claim each other?"

"Got no bloody idea, love. Except that demon you hate to admit you have should respond just as any other demon would. It'll either work, or it won't work because you're human. Either way, we'd be that much more connected and less likely to forget why we're together."

"Anya doesn't think we will forget…."

"Neither do I, to be truthful. But even if we did, I'd swear on my unlife that I would still love you, even if all we had to go by was what we remember from being together this past year. I would still love you just as much."

"You don't know that."

"Do too," he said stubbornly, burying his face in her neck. "I do know that. The only thing we're sussing out here is if I might need a little help makin' sure you know you love me."

Buffy turned so she was straddling him with her legs on either side of his hips. She grabbed his hair and pulled his face up so she could glare at him.

"I'll never understand how somebody who is so full of himself most of the time can be so insecure about his effect on women."

"Not insecure about that at all," he said, pushing up into her. "Not unless I love them and know they're out of my league."

"And how many of those have you had?" she demanded.

"Only one so far." He grinned at her. "If I'm not feelin' insecure, they fall at my feet."

" _I_ didn't fall at your feet," she said with a snort, wriggling against him.

"No. No you didn't. But you were well worth the extra time and effort." He stood smoothly, smiling when she put her legs around his waist. "Worth every bloody second of it," he said as he turned and walked into the bedroom.

"Prove it," she said, nibbling on his throat. "Prove I'm worth it."

"It would be my pleasure, Slayer," he growled, smiling again when she gasped and pressed against him harder.

"Like that, don't you?"

"You know I do. I'm sure it means something is very wrong… with… ummm… me."

He remained standing, growling steadily, while Buffy pulled herself against him and allowed the vibrations to bring her to a swift release. When she was clinging to his neck, legs hanging bonelessly, he fell onto the bed and rolled them to the side.

When her breathing had gone back to normal, and she was unzipping his jeans, he took her hand in his and brought it to his lips.

"Jus' in case we're too busy for a conversation later, is it a yes for the claim?"

"It's a yes. Of course, it's a yes!" When he released her hand and began tugging her shirt off, she said, "What about me? Don't you want to know what I'm going to do?"

"Don't need my permission for that, love. You can put your teeth on me anytime you like and you know it. Have done, more than once. Just needed to be sure it's okay for me to bite _you,_ in case I'm a bit distracted at the time and forget to ask." He finished pulling off her shirt and unfastened her bra, licking one peaked nipple as he did so.

"That's it? We're going to be… married… and all you care about is if it's okay to bite me?"

Buffy sat up, her pout only half-pretend as she realized what they were about to do and how clinically Spike seemed to be going about it. The pout developed into a full-fledged slayer glare.

"You did a better job of proposing than that back when you were evil and hated me!"

Spike stared at her for a second, his mouth agape, then his common sense obviously cut in and he went to his knees beside the bed, pulling her over to the edge. Ignoring his unzipped jeans and her bare breasts, he held on to her hand and kissed it.

"I'm a git and a wanker, and you have every right to turn me down. But if you'll forgive me and say you'll marry me, it will make me the happiest man in the world. And I'll do my best to make you a happy woman for the rest of our lives."

He waited, unable to hide his anxiety, as she bit her lip and seemed to be thinking it over. He sighed in relief when she smiled, saying, "That's better. I accept. I'll marry you, Spike."

"You won't regret this, love," he said, climbing back onto the bed, his loosened jeans sliding off his hips. "I promise you. I'll make it my life's work to make you happy."

"You could start by taking the rest of our clothes off—me first."

As awkward as it was, with his jeans now around his ankles, but hung up on his boottops, he obeyed, unfastening her pants, then going down to her feet to pull off her shoes and socks before tugging her stretchy pants down her legs. He kissed his way back up her legs, mumbling his appreciation for her soft skin and delicious scent.

Buffy allowed herself to enjoy his attentions for a few seconds, before touching him on the head. "Now you," she said, tugging on the collar of his T-shirt.

He yanked the shirt off as he was bending down to take off his boots and socks. He kicked the now-free jeans away and turned back to gaze at her. She was lying back on her elbows, smirking at him, legs still slightly apart.

"Life's work, happy Buffy. Start now."

"Bossy bint," he said, his grin making a mockery of his words. "One happy Buffy comin' right up… pun intended," he added as he lowered his mouth to her clit and began to tease it with his tongue. Never giving in to her verba; and physical hints, he continued to hit it with his tongue just hard enough to build sensations, and not hard enough to allow her the release she was eventually begging for.

Head tossing back and forth, she alternated whimpers and curses as he pinned her hips down and continued his assault. When her whimpers began to sound more like sobs, he relented and grabbed the little bit of flesh between his front teeth, biting just hard enough to send her arching off the bed with a gasped scream.

He didn't give her time to recover before he was sliding into her and sucking on her neck. Buffy let him suck until she could feel his need for more movement, then canted her hips up. He immediately began moving, remaining buried inside her as they stimulated each other to more and more vigorous actions.

Buffy wrapped her arms and legs around him, holding him to her with her ankles crossed behind his back, clinging to him like a monkey while he held himself on his elbows and knees, pounding into her. As she felt her body climbing to an unfamiliar level of ecstasy, she grabbed his shoulder with her teeth, holding on tightly while she shattered around him. His powerful roar of "Mine!" was her first clue that his normal heavy sucking on her throat had turned into something else. She pulled her mouth away from the ragged bite on his shoulder, saying, "I _am_ yours… and you are _mine_."

There was no mistaking the magic now singing through her body for normal afterglow. One look at Spike's face, still wearing his fangs, her blood on his lips, the sheer happiness in his amber eyes and his soft expression made it clear she wasn't alone in her unexpected reaction. "Always will be," he murmured, dropping his head to lick his bite. Still clinging to him, she felt him slowly sink down to the bed. When he rolled onto his back, she loosened her legs and stretched them out along his, moving her hands up to rest them on his shoulders.

"Wow, wowie, wow," she murmured into his chest. "Remind why we didn't do this years ago?"

His chest shook under her face as he chuckled. "It was a bit of alright, wasn't it?" he said, running one hand down her back. "And, because you'd have turned me to dust for it."

"Good point."

"Not stupid, love."

She felt him twitching and growing within her and laughed with delight. "Is this where we test Anya's statement that our sex life is going to get even better?"

"Not sure I believed it could, but I'm more than willin' to give it the benefit of the doubt."

"You know she's going to ask for a full report tomorrow." Buffy giggled.

"With details that're nobody's business but ours," he growled in agreement. "Don't suppose you can arrange for that to happen when I'm not around?"

"Don't worry… ahhhh…. As long as Xander's there, he'll shut her down. I don't think he wants to… ummmm… hear anything about it."

Buffy stopped trying to talk and fell into another bout of lovemaking that, while familiar, managed to be more intense and emotionally fulfilling than any they'd had yet. In addition to feeling each other's pleasure, there was a shared warmth that, more than any words could have, manifested the love they now could feel between them. When they finally broke apart, moving only as far as they needed to for Buffy to get air, they took matching deep breaths.

"I'm pretty sure I'm going to like this being mated business," Buffy said with a sigh.

"Getting more and more fond of it myself," he agreed, stroking her head. "Got no more worries about our relationship when we get back to the future. This isn't going to go away, no matter what changes we make."

Buffy murmured her agreement, curing into his side. "Still seems weird that Dracula's scar went away, though. I wonder when that happened?"

"Seems like it would have been once you sent him away without getting a taste of you, but I think I would have noticed it before."

Buffy snorted. "As much as you like sucking on my neck, it's pretty hard to believe you'd miss that little detail."

"In all fairness, love, I'm left-side oriented and I don't pay as much attention to that side of your neck. Mine is over here," he said, nuzzling the already healing marks he'd left on her. "It's possible I just didn't notice it had gone missing before."

"Huh. I didn't even think about that. Old Batface and Angel, they bit me on the right too. I've got scars on top of scars there."

His answer was a snarl that made her flinch in spite of herself.

"What the hell was that about? They've always been there. You weren't around when I got the first two bites, but you should be used to them by now."

"You weren't my mate before. The demon's not happy about other marks on you."

"Well they aren't claims, they were just bites. Hurty bites, not…." She paused, at a loss for words to describe what the claiming bite had felt like.

"To be honest, love, I'm a little surprised Angelus didn't try to claim you when he was marking you. Would have been just like him to try to make you a possession without asking your permission."

"He didn't," Buffy said, frowning. "I'd have noticed… at least I think I would have noticed….I'm not sure I was conscious when he got me to the hospital." She chewed her lip. "What if he did? That might explain why I thought I was in love with him for so long. Didn't you say a one-way claim would mean we were connected?"

"Did you remember saying anything to him?"

"Nope, I was busy hoping he'd stop as soon as he got enough so it would stop hurting. And then…. I guess I passed out. He wasn't there when I woke up in the ER."

Spike growled under his breath. "Bloody wanker. Bet he told you it was his demon that wouldn't stop, didn't he?"

"Maybe." She nuzzled Spike's chest, licking his nipple to watch it come to a little peak. "But I know better now. I know he could control his demon if he wanted to. If I'd know you as well then, I wouldn't —"

"If you'd known me this well then, he never would have put his teeth on you, because we'd already be mated."

"So he didn't claim me, then. "Cause if he had, Dracult wouldn't have been able to bite me."

Spike frowned. "Hard to tell about Drac. If if was some kind of half-arsed mark the poof left there without getting you to agree to it… I dunno. Drac's got all that gypsy magic stuff going for him. He might not worry too much about an incomplete claim from a younger vamp… even if it was the mighty Angelus." The sneer in his voice made Spike's opinion perfectly clear.

"You didn't have any trouble biting me. And you nibble on me all the time. You nibbled even back in our time when we—"

"Never tried to nibble over your scars…." Spike said. "Now that I think of it, I don't know if I've ever put my mouth on that side of your neck. Let me see…." He rolled them over so he could see the right side of her neck, running his tongue over the scars there.

"Bloody hell," he whispered, staring at her neck with wide eyes. He leaned in and licked again, shaking his head in wonder.

"What? As good as that feels, I don't think it rates a 'bloody hell', does it?"

"How do you feel about having only one, barely visible, scar on that side of your neck?" he whispered, making no attempt to hide his shock.

"What?"

"An hour ago, you still had two scars —one from old Batface, and one from the poof. There's only one now, and it's hardly noticeable."

"Oookaaaay. I can kind of see losing Dracula's bite mark, 'cause he never bit me in this time line. But Angel did. And the scar was there."

"Indeed it was. I may not have touched it with my lips, but I was always aware of it somehow…." He sat up and began swearing in several languages.

"Spike?"

"I was always aware of it. Not Drac's, not old Batface's, but I could never ignore Angel's scar. The bloody bastard _did_ mark you and set up a claim. Somehow, he put just enough of a pull on you that you couldn't get away." He gazed down at her. "Do you still feel that 'connection' to him? Or is he now just an old boyfriend?"

Buffy frowned, thinking, then her eyes grew wide. "He's going to be a dusty old boyfriend! He did try to claim me! No wonder I could never love anybody else!"

"I take it that means it's gone?"

Buffy shuddered. "How could he do that to me? Bind me to him like that without asking me?" She looked at Spike, her eyes damp with tears she refused to shed. "I would have said yes." She frowned again, remembering scenes from years past. "That son of a bitch!"

"Buffy?"

"He used to… to… when we'd see each other or talk on the phone, he'd always end it by asking me if I was still his girl. And dumb me, I said 'yes'." Her hurt expression had changed to a slayer's angry glare. "I'm going to kill him."

"Not that I'd stop you, love, but in all fairness to him, he probably thought he was putting a mark on you that would keep you safe. Or at least give you another second or two to save yourself. Wasn't strong enough to work on an old vamp like Dracula, and it didn't stop me from… but it did keep me away from that side of your neck."

"Are you _defending_ him?" She stared at him incredulously. "Seriously? You don't want to kill him ?"

"It's gone, love. Wiped out by the real thing. If we'd figured this out before we were mated, I'd be on my way to L.A. to turn him into a puddle of bloody dust. But I'm here. He isn't. And we're mated. I'm feeling magnanimous."

"Well, I'm not feeling magna… whatever that is. I'm feeling homicidal."

"I can feel that. Trust me." He growled to prove his point. "But we've got bigger fish to fry right now."

"Fine," she agreed reluctantly. "First kill Glory, then Angel." She glanced at him as a thought occurred to her. "Will he know it's gone?"

Spike shrugged. "Don't really know, do I? Could ask the Watcher, or Anyanka, but I'm guessing only another really old vampire would be able to answer that." He grinned. "Or we'll know if the poof comes roaring back in to town to find out what happened to it. I think I'd pay to see his face when he finds out."

"You know you're an ass, right?" she snorted. "We don't need that kind of distraction right now. Isn't that what you just said?"

"Meant you didn't need to running off to dust him. Didn't say I'd stop you if he came to us." He nudged her. "But not till after I get to see his face when he realizes who has claimed you for real."

"And I repeat, ass. It's a good thing for you I _can_ feel your emotions, 'cause if I thought for one second this was all about you getting one up on Angel…. He wouldn't be the only one floating away on the breeze."

He laughed and pulled her back down, drawing the blankets over them as, in spite of her words, she snuggled into his side.

"But you can read me, love. And you can feel how much I love you and what this means to me."

"Mmmph," was her only reply as she closed her eyes for some much-needed sleep before having to worry about Glory again.

"Mmmph you too, Buffy," he said as he closed his eyes.


	16. Chapter 16

**CHAPTER SIXTEEN**

By the time Spike and Buffy were to meet Giles and Winston at the Magic Box the following evening, Dawn had already had one frightening experience with a homeless man who followed her most of the way home, telling her she was "glowing". She'd burst into the house, slamming and locking the door behind her, and gone straight to the phone to call Buffy and Spike, who rushed to Revello Drive. The obviously mentally ill homeless man had already wandered off, so there was nothing left to do but wait for Joyce to get home and to assure both Joyce and Dawn that they were all working hard to find a solution to the situation.

Buffy described the Knights, and reminded Dawn to avoid them at all costs. After Spike had circled the house several times looking for lurkers (debating whether he should follow the man's scent, but deciding against it), and Buffy had called Giles to tell him the wards were needed… NOW… they had dinner with Joyce and Dawn before leaving for the Magic Box.

They arrived at the shop just as Giles and Winston were finishing their wards for that building. Spike stopped in surprise when he encountered an unexpected magical barrier.

"Kickin' me out of the club?" he inquired, tapping on the invisible wall that had prevented him from following Buffy inside.

"Sorry, Spike," Winston said quickly. "Forgot that a barrier impervious to all non-human beings would include you. Please come in."

Spike growled as he stepped through the door. "Not sure if I should be offended or flattered," he said, only half-joking.

Winston smiled at him. "I guess that depends on whether you consider it to be a good thing or a bad thing to be accepted by the humans you are friends with as one of them."

"Might have to think on that for a bit," he said, smothering a smile of his own. "So what did you magical types come up with last night? In the way of a plan, I mean."

A gasp from Giles brought everyone's attention to him. He was staring at Buffy, who, in the act of shrugging off her jacket, had exposed the new bite mark on her neck. She flushed, but stood up straight to meet her former watcher's angry glare.

"Yes," she said. "That's exactly what you think it is. Spike and I are…." She paused and gave Spike an apologetic shrug. "I just can't use that word. Not with other human people."

"The Slayer and I eloped last night," Spike filled in smoothly. "We got ourselves married in the eyes of the Powers That Mess With Things, and now we don't need to worry about what keepin' her alive might do to our future together. It's just a pact between us and has nothing to do with anyone else."

Giles gave a sigh of resignation and nodded. "I suppose that's true, although I'm fairly certain Xander is _no_ t going to see it that way."

"No reason for him to know about it just now," Spike said, plucking a soft green scarf off a display and handing it to Buffy, who understood immediately and arranged it around her neck in such a way as to hide the mark.

"Good choice," she said, smiling at him for picking one that coordinated with her sweater.

"Looks good on you, love. Brings out the green in your eyes." They beamed at each other for a moment, until Winston coughed and reminded them they weren't alone.

"I suspect Anya will understand the reason for the scarf rather quickly, but perhaps she won't share it with her boyfriend," he said, sending Giles an inquiring look. Giles shrugged his doubt, keeping his attention on Buffy.

"Oh crap! She probably will. Oh well, by the next time we see them, maybe it'll have faded enough that she won't notice it."

"Speaking of fading…." Spike raised an eyebrow at Buffy.

"Oh yeah. That. Sit down, guys, this is really weird."

With help from Spike, who interjected when he felt he needed to, she explained about Dracula's mark having vanished without either of them noticing it at the time.

"So, Spike thinks it probably happened after I sent him back to Transylvania or wherever, and we just didn't notice it till now."

Giles nodded, grabbing his always nearby notepad and jotting down the new information about time travel and its effects.

"That could be a reasonable outcome," he said. "In this timeline, he didn't get to mark you, so the one you brought with you ceased to exist. I'll admit it's a little disturbing, but I can understand why it might happen."

Looking almost as interested as the research-oriented Giles was, Winston nodded his head also. "I believe that's entirely possible. However, I'm a bit curious about why Spike didn't notice it, given that we know he enjoys your neck." He gave a small grin, reminding them of the visible love bites Buffy sported from time to time.

She flushed and muttered, "Let him tell you. That's the next biggie."

Giles and Winston both gave Spike their attention as he coughed and mumbled, before saying, "Seems like I prefer the left side of her neck."

Giles frowned. "That makes sense, given your hand preferences, I suppose. But that's quite a strong preference, if you don't mind my saying so."

"And there you have the crux of the matter…."

Buffy's patience had by now overcome her embarassment and she snapped, "Oh my god, just tell them why you stayed away from that side of my neck!" She turned her attention on Giles. "And just so you know, I think my watcher should have at least considered the possibility and warned me about it."

Giles paled slightly as his growing recognition of what could have happened became visible. "Are you saying….?" He gave something close to a growl. "I should have set fire to that bastard when I had the chance!"

"Well, yeah. You should have. Or, maybe not set fire, 'cause I'm pretty sure I wouldn't have appreciated it back then, but something. You should have done something!"

Winston interrupted the tense moment. "Are you saying that Angel, or Angelus, had already marked and claimed you?"

"Looks like," Spike said tersely. "Stupid of me not to wonder why I never felt comfortable kissin' that side of her neck, but it wasn't strong enough to get my attention, just enough to keep me from gettin' too close."

"How did it happen?" Giles stared at Buffy as if it was somehow her fault, causing her to flinch, and Spike to snarl and rise from his seat. "I'm sorry!" Giles said quickly. "I'm not saying you let it happen on purpose, only that I don't understand how… I suppose it had to be when he almost killed you to save his own sorry life."

Buffy put a calming hand on Spike's arm, the claim letting her feel his anger at Giles even while it was ebbing.

"Yes. That's the only time he ever bit me. But I was unconscious, so if he claimed me, I didn't hear it and I definitely didn't accept it. But…." She glanced at Spike, who was growling again, this time at what he knew was coming. She quickly explained about how Angel would always ask if she was still his girl, even after he'd left Sunnydale, and that she always responded with what he wanted to hear.

"So, even without your knowing what you were doing, you were reinforcing it. Interesting…." Giles looked thoughtful as he added to his notes.

"I know you meant to say sneaky and disturbing," Buffy said, causing Giles to cough and push his notebook away.

"May I see the mark, Buffy?" Winston asked respectfully.

"Well, that brings us to the next thing…."

"There's more?" Giles looked as if he was wishing he had more paper as he grabbed his pad back again.

"Boy howdy," Buffy said with a grimace. She poked Spike. "You tell them."

"Winston can't see the mark because it's gone. It disappeared right after we claimed each other. It was there just before, but not after."

Both men stared at them with wide eyes.

Buffy filled the stunned silence. "Not only is that scar gone—just like Dracula's—but so is that connection to Angel I've always felt and thought was because he was my first true love." She made a face to indicate how distasteful she now found that idea.

"It's gone. And if he'd been around last night when we figured out what he'd done…." She rolled her eyes and muttered, "He should be glad he wasn't. I was definitely thinking big dust bunny."

"And what about you? Surely you find this as outrageous as we do?" Giles looked somewhat incredulous as he asked Spike why he wasn't more furious.

Spike sighed before he answered.

"It was a partial claim at best. If I'm feeling charitable, I can imagine he hoped having his mark on her throat might save her life one day." He shook his head. "But using it to keep her tied to him, that was the poof being the complete wanker I know he is." He bared his teeth and snarled. "If he shows up here plannin' to complain about my real claim kicking his out, he'd best bring an army with him."

"Indeed," Giles agreed, sounding very much like the man who'd once gone after Angelus with a stake and a flaming torch. "There may be a line forming."

Buffy waved her hand. "It has to form behind me. I'm the injured party here. Right now we need to figure out what we're going to do about Glory, and how we're going to do it. You researchy guys can take all your notes, and when we have time, we can try to figure out why things I do now can change things I brought into this timeline with me. For now, at least we've fixed it so it can't change how Spike and I feel about each other. So, Glory first, weird time traveling stuff next."

"Quite right," Winston said. "We must keep our priorities focused if at all possible."

"Yes," Giles agreed, laying down his pen with some visible reluctance. "I believe we—actually, your incredibly interesting landlord and Winston—have devised a way to convince the Knights of Byzantium that both they and Glory are on the wrong track to locate the Key. With luck, they will leave Sunnydale immediately in search of it elsewhere. By the time they learn they were tricked, it will be too late for Glory to use it and we can hope they will retire gracefully."

Buffy gazed at Winston. "Is that going to work?"

"We think so. It's just a question of planting suggestions in a few of the higher officers, and letting them thrash out where else the Key may have been hidden. If we can convince them that Sunnydale is a red herring, they should go off to pursue the Key somewhere in Asia where they will have heard about strange events taking place."

"In our time, Glory was sucking their brains as fast as she could get them, and all the brain-sucked ones recognized Dawn. And so did a crazy homeless man today. He followed her home! If Glory'd seen that…."

"So there is some urgency to our plan, then." Winston stood up. "We've protected the Magic Box as best we can for now. I propose we go to your mother's home and do the same there." He smiled at Buffy. "I feel confident Max has taken care of your home already."

"Wasn't ours already safe?"

"It was, but I believe he has added some… embellishments… to the wards specific to your apartment."

"Maybe I should just bring Dawn and Mom to live with us for a while…."

"I'm sure your mum would prefer that to my crypt," Spike snorted.

"Your crypt?" Giles frowned.

"In our time, Spike was living in that crypt he has in Restfield, and I took Mom and Dawn there a few times to keep them away from Glory."

"Your mother must have been pleased…"

"She was a good sport about it. But being able to stay in her own home will be even better. Can she do that?"

"I believe so." Winston exchanged glances with Giles. "We will do what we can tonight, and tomorrow perhaps we can coax Max into double checking what we've done."

Spike cocked his head at Winston. "When I said old Max was more than he seems, I wasn't far off the mark, was I?"

Winston shook his head. "His story isn't mine to tell, but I can assure you he is more than he seems. And so are most of the students he has taken under his wing at one time or another. Max is a wonderful instructor and mentor. I sincerely hope Willow is going to take advantage of having met him so early in her career."

"Does that mean in your time she met him later?" Buffy asked.

"It does." Winston didn't elaborate except to say, "Also not my story to tell. Shall we go, then?"

 **XXXX**

Dawn followed Winston and Giles all over the house, asking questions, watching, and whispering to herself. As Buffy watched Giles's jaw get tighter and tighter, she signaled Spike with her eyes and he diverted Dawn's attention with the suggestion they go downstairs and work on her sleight of hand when handling cards.

"Thank you," Giles said. "I'm not sure why she doesn't trust us to do this, but —"

"She trusts you guys. I think she just likes to watch people doing magic."

"Well, I for one, find it very disconcerting," Giles huffed. Winston and Buffy shared a quick look of amusement before he went back to work. Losing interest, Buffy went downstairs to talk to her mother.

 **XXX**

"Is all this magic going to keep us safe?" Joyce asked.

"Saf _er,_ anyway," Buffy replied. "The wards should keep out pretty much anybody and anything other than Glory herself." She frowned. "Now that I think about it, Spike told me it's odd that the house wasn't warded before. He said most watchers would've had the places their slayers slept warded up the ying-yang."

"Up the ying-yang?"

"Well, some vulgar British version of that. The point is, we should have done this years ago. Here _and_ in my own time. I can't believe all we ever did was disinvites against vampires. Like they were the only scary things in Sunnydale."

"If I've understood Spike correctly, as far as most vampires and demons are concerned, _you_ are the scariest thing in Sunnydale." Joyce gave Buffy a wry smile, but couldn't hide the pride in her voice.

Buffy laughed. "I guess he's right, come to think of it. Maybe we didn't need any wards."

"But now we do."

Buffy sighed. "I'm afraid so, Mom. In our time, you were already… gone… so you missed the worst of it. This time, I'm hoping to get Glory taken care of long before we get to the have-Spike-steal-an-RV-so-we-can-try-to-run-away point."

"Did that work?"

Buffy grimaced. "No. It didn't work at all. But we didn't know about Ben back then. Only Spike knew he was Glory and he couldn't make us understand. The spell is gone now, so we're already ahead of the game there. And you aren't in the hospital, so you and Dawn don't even need to meet Ben or be around him. The wards are just insurance until we get it all taken care of."

She glanced up as Giles and Winston entered the kitchen.

"All done?"

"We believe so," Winston said. "I will ask Max to check our work tomorrow. but I'm comfortable that it will be acceptable."

"Think you'll get an 'A'?" Buffy said with a giggle.

"Very funny," Winston muttered, then added, "You have no idea how hard it is to get an 'A' out of Master Maxmillian."

Buffy giggled again, enjoying the sight of the normally self-confident and unflappable mage worried about his old teacher's reaction to his work.

"Somethin' funny, love?" Spike's voice preceded him into the room.

"Apparently I am," Winston grumbled, trying to hide a small smile.

"I think you need to be nicer to the man who saved my life," Joyce said, her tone severe, but her eyes warm.

"Right you are, Mum," Spike said. "Behave yourself, Slayer."

Buffy narrowed her eyes at him. "Are you going to be bossy now? 'Cause you're not the boss of me!"

"Trust me, love, nobody knows that better than I do." He laughed, holding up his hands in surrender. "That hasn't changed at all."

Joyce looked back and forth between them, her gaze becoming more intent when Giles and Winston began to sidle toward the door mumbling their good- nights, and Buffy and Spike fell silent. There was a pause while they listened to the front door being shut behind the two escaping men, then Joyce put her hands on her hips and tapped her foot.

"What don't I know that I should know?"

"Spike?" Buffy looked at him but he shook his head.

"Oh no, love. This is between a girl and her mum."

"Like hell it is!" Buffy grabbed his arm before he could leave the room and threw him onto one of the kitchen stools. "You sit right there!"

She turned to Joyce and said, "You might want to sit down too, Mom. _We_ have something to tell you."

Joyce sighed, but sat on the other stool. "Well, you can't be pregnant, so what is so earthshaking I have to be sitting for it?" Instinctively she seemed to understand that whatever was going on, it wasn't related to Dawn or Glory.

"Mom!" Buffy blushed, punching Spike in the arm when he laughed.

"You can't be, can you?"

"No!" Buffy stopped and took a deep breath. "But if I could be, it would be… okay, because we…." She stopped to glance at Spike. "Spike called what we did last night 'eloping'. Which isn't exactly what we did, but we did do something that's like a vampire marriage. Something that will mean no matter what else happens to change the world, we'll always know who we are to each other. Even if, for some reason, we forget everything we did in our own time that got us here, we won't forget that we love each other."

She pulled the scarf aside and showed Joyce her new scar.

"This is Spike's mark. And he has one I gave him. They'll heal up, but they won't fade away like most scars do."

"I see." Joyce was obviously trying to school her face into the appropriate lines, but her struggle was evident.

"I know this isn't what you wanted for me, Mom. But I was never going to live long enough to give you grandchildren anyway."

Joyce shook her head. "I know that, honey. It's just…." She glanced at Spike who was sitting quietly. "It's not that I don't like you, Spike. It's just…."

"It's just that your beautiful, brave daughter deserves something other than a monster for a life partner. I'll never fault you for thinking so. All I can do is promise you that I'll love her longer and better than any human man could, and do my best to see she lives long enough to watch the Bit's babies grow up."

Buffy had moved to stand beside him, and he put his arms around her to pull her in between his legs, facing her mother.

Joyce took a deep breath, then smiled at them with damp eyes.

"Well, I can't very well send friends and family pictures of a hole in Buffy's neck, so I guess I'll need to plan a wedding." She frowned. "After you get rid of that nasty woman who wants to kill my other daughter…"

Spike sighed when Buffy pulled away to hug her mother.

"We're workin' on it, Joyce," he said. "We're working on it."


	17. Chapter 17

**CHAPTER SEVENTEEN**

"I reckon we should do a patrol before we call it a night," Spike said as they walked down the street. "Not really that late yet."

"In vampire hours, maybe," Buffy tried to grumble, but her twitching lips gave her away, and Spike laughed as he bumped her shoulder.

"Nice try, love, but you've been keeping vampire hours most of your life now. Even your mum and the Bit were just going to bed when we left."

Buffy sighed. "Poor Mom. She'll be awake all night trying to plan a wedding that she didn't see coming."

"Don't see why she didn't," he said, a pout in his voice. "In our own time, she'd already figured out I was fallin' in love with you by now. And this time around, she's seen us living together for over a year. I'm surprised she hasn't threatened to take an axe to me for not makin' an honest woman of you."

"'Honest woman'? Is that some kind of Victorian code for not-a-ho?"

"Could be."

Buffy sniffed, then turned into the gates of the closest cemetery. "Let's see if I can find something to stake here. I'll pretend it's you."

"Seriously, love? This particular graveyard is only a few blocks from your mum's house. No self-respecting vampire is going to be hanging around this close to —" He broke off as Buffy ran ahead and waded into a small group of vampires clustered around a new grave.

"Self-respect and vampires? Not really all that mixy," she grunted, running a stake through the first one she came to. She spun into another vampire, taking him to the ground with a leg sweep while she punched the next one.

"So it seems. Let me know if you want me to —" He leapt forward in time to intercept one of Glory's minions that was inching toward Buffy with what looked like a net in his scabby little hands.

Using the short sword he'd hung down his back earlier, he removed the minion's head, then whirled, going into game face and using his heightened senses to search for any other dangers.

In the meantime, after seeing Spike spring into action from the corner of her eye, Buffy dispensed with quipping and dispatched the other two vampires in time to join him in searching for any other signs of trouble.

When the graveyard remained still and quiet, they relaxed a bit, Spike dropping back into his normal human mien.

"I wonder what that was about?"

"If I had to guess, I'd say it was about trying to capture you for her godlyl sluttiness," Spike growled, as he picked up the net and tested the fibers. Buffy saw him relax even more when he was easily able to rip through the mesh. "Don't guess it would have held you very long, but….

"But…?"

"But it would be nice to know if he was following orders, or just showing a bloody unnecessary amount of initiative—pardon my language," he growled.

Buffy snorted at his comment. "When the minions captured you, was that on Glory's orders?"

Spike thought for a moment, then said, "Don't think so. She was happy to see me when they told her I was the Key, but she didn't look like she'd been expecting it. If she'd sent them after me, she prob'ly would've already known I was a vamp and it would have been just for information. But she didn't know. Was right brassed off about their stupidity, if I recall."

He put his arm around her and glared around the seemingly empty cemetery. "Doesn't mean she didn't send him after you, though. She knows what you are. Might be she's planning to torture the Key's location out of you instead of me, this go 'round."

"Well there's a cheerful thought…. although…."

"Although what? Don't be thinkin' about offering yourself up…."

Buffy shrugged off his arm with a "Don't tell me what to do," that was softened by her warm tone and a smile. "Let's go home. I've got some thinking to do…."

 **XXX**

Buffy picked her head up from his thigh and smiled at him.

"How was that?"

"Bloody amazing, just like always. But if you think a spectacular blowjob is going to make me forget whatever hair-brained and dangerous idea you've got churning around in that pretty little head…."

"Phooey!" she said, sitting up and glaring at him. "I take it back then."

"Too late." He stretched and gave her a smirk. "You already got me off. Rather brilliantly, I might add," he said as he pulled her up beside him and wrapped his arms around her.

"Now, tell me what you're thinking, love. I can't tell what it is, but I can feel your excitement."

"Well, that's kind of part of it. I want us to try to find each other using just the claim."

"Right now?"

"Well, no, not right now," she said, snuggling into his side. "But tomorrow. Tomorrow we're going to work on it before I tell you or anybody else about my idea."

"I'm not 'anybody else'," he growled, his body stiffening against her.

"No, you're not. And I'll tell you all about it first. I promise. But I don't want to get all excited about it until I know more about our claim perks."

They heard Buffy's phone ringing in the living room where she'd left it, and gave matching groans.

"I'll wager that's granddad calling to make sure you're still his girl," Spike said. "Are you going to answer it?"

Buffy sighed. "I guess I should. I really don't want to bother with this right now, but maybe I can take care of it without a lot of drama."

She got up to go get her phone, snorting at Spike's barely muttered, "Good luck with that."

"Hello?" Buffy saw no reason to admit she'd recognized the number that came up.

"Buffy? Is that you?" She rolled her eyes.

"It's my phone. How did you get this number?"

"Willow gave it to me, she—"

"She shouldn't have done that," Buffy said shortly. "You could have called the Magic Box and asked for me to call you if I wasn't there." She settled onto the bed, holding the phone to her ear. "So what's so important you had to call me in the middle of night?"

"It's not that late. You're a slayer. You should be up at night."

She tried not to sound as cranky as she felt. "My current problem doesn't much care if it's day or night," she said, then softened her tone and reminded herself that this Angel had no idea what she was dealing with. "I'm sorry. So what did you want? Is there some problem in LA I should know about?"

"No. No. Nothing like that. Just wanted to talk to you and see if you're still my girl…."

Buffy waited for a moment, glaring at Spike whose eyes were flashing amber, then responded. "I thought we'd kind of settled that last year when you were here. I'm with Spike now."

"You're still living with him?"

"Uh, yeah? What part of 'we're together' made you think I wouldn't be?"

"I'm sorry, Buffy. I didn't mean to imply you couldn't have a new boyfriend. Of course you can. But… you are still my forever girl, aren't you?"

Buffy rolled her eyes at Spike, who was now nibbling on his mark. She pushed him away gently, and spoke into the phone. "Angel. I _am_ _not_ still your girl. And I can assure you, if I didn't have a hellgod to get rid of, we _would_ be having a conversation about that." She paused, then said with steel in her voice, "Trust me, you wouldn't enjoy that conversation."

Ignoring her tone and her words, he said, "We do need to talk. Face to face. Should I come there, or will you be coming down here?"

Buffy held the phone away from her head and stared at it in astonishment. While she was struggling to put into words her feelings about having her warning ignored, Spike took the phone from her hand.

"You need to think about what the Slayer just said to you, Angelus. Think _long_ and _hard_ before you decide to show up on our doorstep again. We've got a busy day tomorrow, so we're going to sleep now. Don't call back."

He ended the call, turned the phone off, and handed it to Buffy.

"That'll either be the end of it, or he'll be pounding on the door by tomorrow night," he said. "Either way, we've been as reasonable about it as we could be."

"We have, haven't we? We were very understanding and non-confrontational. I'm proud of us!" She dropped the phone to the floor and let him pull her back down. "Do you think he'll get it and stay away?"

"Oh, hell no. But we gave him every chance, so if he shows up here…."

"I get first crack at him," Buffy said as she relaxed and closed her eyes. "Then you, then Giles…."

 **XXX**

They spent a good part of the next day working on sensing each other's whereabouts without Spike using his vampire senses or Buffy using her slayer tingles. When it appeared that they had no trouble finding each other quickly in and around the apartment building, they moved to more difficult situations.

"Gotcha!" Buffy crowed when she was able to find Spike in a crowded mall. The more they practiced, the better they got at letting the claim connect them rather than using their normal tracking senses.

Experimenting, Buffy thought really hard at him. " _Spike?"_

"Yes, love," he said absently, frowning when she didn't respond. He glanced at her, noting her dancing eyes and the happiness he could feel radiating from her.

" _Did you just do what I think you did?"_

 _"Yep. This is totally cool!"_ She frowned. "Unless you're going to start reading all my thoughts, because then I —"

He shook his head. "I can barely understand your thought processes when you try to put them into words, no worries that I'll overhear anything I shouldn't." He grinned at her glare.

 _"Picking that up loud and clear,"_ he tried to project in her direction, not really sure if she got it, or if she was just reacting to his grin and the way he moved out of reach.

" _Jackass"_

 _"Got that one too, love."_

She rubbed her forehead. "This is giving me a headache. But I guess it could come in handy if we can do it from far away."

"It is a bit of work," he admitted. "But we should probably practice it as often as we can without getting tired. Just so we'll have it when we need it."

"I guess. But not now. My head hurts. Where's the aspirin in this place?"

"Go find it, then I'll try to find which shop you're in."

"Uh, Spike, I'll be in the one that says 'Drug Store' under the pain reliever sign."

"Oh, right. Never mind then. Get your aspirin and lets go home. You can rest until it's time for tonight's meeting."

 **XXX**

"So, that's the sitch, guys." Buffy gazed around the apartment building's all-purpose room. "It looks like the minion wanted to capture me, but we don't know if she told him to or if he thought of it himself. But if it was Glory who wants me…." She paused and gazed around. "She's going to get me."

There was a babble around the table which Buffy allowed to die down. Winston spoke first as the others quieted.

"I'm assuming you have a plan?"

"I do. I need to get Glory away from regular people, but somewhere you can all be there too, right? So, if she takes me somewhere she can torture me, but Spike can tell where I am, you can all show up and do your magic thing."

"You do understand that the 'magic thing' is for us to try to hold her in human form long enough for Spike to kill him." Winston was not asking a question, but stating what he obviously hoped was a fact.

Buffy sighed and nodded.

"I know. If what we've learned about Ben is right, he isn't going to survive no matter what, so we aren't killing someone who was going to have a life. It's just like last year when Willow's spell made Adam blow up and kill Professor Walsh. I was okay with it, because I knew he was going to kill her soon anyway. I don't want to be the one to do it, but Spike owes her." She shot Giles a look. "And it means no one else will have to do it."

Spike grinned as Giles gasped.

"You can thank me later, Watcher," he said with a smirk.

Anya had been looking back and forth between them, unable to see the bite marks on Spike because his coat collar hid them, and Buffy again had a color coordinated scarf around her neck and shoulders.

"You did it, didn't you?" she asked, not waiting for an answer before announcing, "They did it. They're ma—"

Buffy interrupted her. "Married. Yes, we got married. And Mom is mad that she wasn't there, so there's going to be a real wedding as soon as we get rid of Glory." Buffy's hard stare into Anya's eyes dared her to argue.

Anya returned the stare, but nodded. "Right. Married. I knew that. Everyone knows that married people can tell where the other one is all the time."

Willow, Tara, and Xander all frowned in confusion as the somewhat hard to understand conversation took place. Anya and Buffy held each other's gaze, until Anya finally dropped hers to the table.

"All right. Xander's going to be upset enough that you're… married… There's no sense in aggravating the situation."

"Exactly," Buffy said, glancing at Xander who was obviously still dwelling on the news of the marriage and having trouble putting his thoughts into words. "And nothing else is going to be done about it until after we've taken care of Glory, so let's move on, huh?"

"Any repercussions about the other thing yet?" Giles's question brought more frowns around the room from the Scoobies.

"Oh goody," Willow said snidely. "Something else nobody knows about except Giles and these other two guys." She waved her hand at Max and Winston. Tara winced and sent a quick apologetic shrug at Buffy, who smiled at her before turning to talk to Willow, smile now noticeably absent.

"I thought you might have guessed this one, Willow. Since you're the one who gave Angel my cell phone number so he could call me in the middle of the night."

Willow looked momentarily abashed, then recovered. "It was _Angel_. I was surprised he didn't have the number. Since when don't you want to talk to him?"

Buffy exchanged looks with Spike, and then with Giles and Winston. She shrugged and said, "Since we figured out that he put a partial claim on me when he bit me two years ago…. well, actually five or six years ago, if we count my time…. And that he never told me about it, but kept renewing it by asking me if I was still his girl every time we talked."

Just in case they'd missed the implications, she added, "And of course I always said 'yes' because I thought I was in love with him. Which just renewed the claim enough to keep me thinking he was the love of my life."

"Wow…" Willow was otherwise speechless. Tara gave Buffy a sympathetic look, then glanced at Spike's stony expression and edged closer to Willow. Xander seemed to have forgotten all about the "marriage" in his haste to assure everyone that he'd always known "deadboy" was "a creep and a sneak and up to no good." Anya looked at Spike's face, saying shrewdly, "I'm guessing it's gone now."

"So it seems," Buffy said, without explanation. "We'd like to talk to you about that… later," she added when Xander and Willow looked suddenly interested. Anya shrugged and nodded.

"Sure. Whenever it's good for you."

"If I may," Giles said. "Are there going to be problems now?"

Spike repeated his words from the night before. "Told the Slayer, we either won't hear from him again, or he'll be pounding on our door tonight."

"He won't be able to do that now, you know," Max said mildly. "He may do so metaphorically, but he won't be able to reach your door."

"Good to know," Spike said with a nod. "He can just stand out in the street, yellin', until he gets bored and goes home."

Giles frowned. "You may be willing to let this go, but I am _not_."

Buffy smiled at Giles. "Relax, Giles. Like I told Spike last night, I get first crack at him, then he gets his, and then you."

"If there's anything left of him," Spike growled, his eyes flashing. "I'm every bit as unhappy about it as you are, Rupert, but Buffy's the offended party here, and it's up to her what she wants to do about it. If he comes after me…. then we've got a problem. Don't expect to lose a fight to him, but he might get lucky, and I don't want to not be 100 percent when Buffy needs me."

"You're showing surprising self-control for the somewhat impulsive vampire I know you to be."

"Had a few more hard-knock years since we first met in our time, Watcher. Learned to keep my priorities straight."

"Fair enough," Giles murmured. "I suppose we'll have to wait and see what happens from that quarter. In the meantime…." He glanced at Winston and Max.

Max nodded his head. "I like Buffy's plan. I believe our time is best spent working on our spell and coordinating our efforts so we will be prepared when we're needed." He smiled at Buffy and Spike. "If the two of you are able to know each other's locations, the plan should work." He frowned. "It isn't going to be easy," he said. "The hellgod is undoubtedly very powerful when in her chosen form. It may well take all five of us working together to —"

"All _five?"_ Willow turned to Tara and patted her hand. "I'm sorry, baby, I didn't mean that to sound quite so…."

"Arrogant," Spike coughed, turning his back and flinching when Buffy punched him.

Max responded as if Willow had asked a legitimate question.

"Indeed, Willow. Those of us who are more powerful and adept will need someone to keep us grounded. That would be the lovely Miss Maclay, who is so strongly connected to the earth through her own gentle magic that having her with us will be an important component of our spell."

"What about Giles? What can he do?" Willow waved her hand in his direction, refusing to take the easy way out she'd been given.

Instead of Max, it was Winston who responded. "May I speak with you for a moment, Willow? Outside?"

Willow frowned, but nodded and followed Winston into the hall. There was an uncomfortable silence in the room while they all wondered what was being said, and if it was going to result in an even more angry Willow.

Tara hid her face behind her hair in way she hadn't for some time. "She doesn't mean to be rude," she said softly.

"Perhaps not," Giles said, "but her attitude could put us all at risk if she goes into this angry with any of us."

"I suspect Winston is making that very clear to her just now," Max said with a small smile. "He may be taking her down a peg or two, magically speaking."

Buffy thought back to the previous year when Max had frozen an angry Willow with a wave of his hand. "I wonder if we should have told her how much stronger than her he is?" she mused aloud.

"If she hasn't figured that out by now, she hasn't been paying attention," Giles muttered. "They've been working together for some time."

"I believe Winston has been very forgiving of much of what she does and says because they are so close in his time." Max sighed and shook his head. "It may be time for him to stop thinking of her as a younger version of his close friend, and to remember her ability to do great damage."

Buffy nodded. "One of these days, he's going to have to fill us in on what changes there were in his timeline from ours. There are multiple slayers, so she must have done that spell there."

"Well, someone did," Giles muttered.


	18. Chapter 18

**CHAPTER EIGHTEEN**

They all looked up as the door opened and a much quieter Willow preceded Winston into the room. Buffy was surprised to see traces of tears on Willow's face, but her glance at Winston earned her only a headshake.

Trying to pretend nothing had happened, Giles said, "I suppose, given that Buffy may be compromised at any time now, we should work on coordinating our spells as often as we can."

"Indeed," Max said. "We'll have to work quite closely together in order for this to work. It will be… challenging."

"Aren't you going to practice on those freaky knight guys?" Xander's question seemed innocent, but Willow gave him a glare.

"That would give us a chance to practice working together, but Winston and I are hoping to avoid a direct confrontation by implanting the idea that they are in the wrong place."

"But they know Glory's here," Xander protested. "She's been sucking knightly brains right and left."

"That's quite true. All the more reason to send them away quickly, rather than confront them. They are not likely to leave in the face of such strong opposition if they think we are protecting the Key from them."

"That makes sense," Buffy said. "The sooner the better."

"We've actually begun working on it already. Willow has been very helpful with her computer skills in assisting us to learn who the leaders are."

"The Knights are online?"

Willow smiled and sat up a little straighter. "Well, not 'on line' as in they have a web page —'We're the Knights of Byzantium, ask us how'—but I was able to find enough information about them to figure out they've probably sent their big guns here, and that they call the head knight a general."

Buffy nodded her agreement. "We've met," she said tersely.

Willow continued, "These guys have to eat and live somewhere, so I found where they get their food and camping supplies. I hacked into the store's records and got the names on the credit cards to give to Winston."

Winston smiled at her. "She did. Willow saved us a great deal of legwork. Having their names allowed us to…. well, let's just say they are already wondering if they are in the right place. Since Glory obviously doesn't have her Key yet, and Buffy doesn't seem to be protecting anything but her family, they are open to suggestions that the news from Asia could mean they are searching in the wrong place and allowing Glory to weaken them by remaining here."

"We'll give another strong push tonight," Max said. "Perhaps one that can include lower ranked officers also. With luck, they will leave within a day or two to seek the Key in another part of the world."

"That would be wonderful," Buffy said with a sigh. "One less enemy trying to kill Dawn to worry about."

"It would be best if you could hold off on your plan to let Glory capture you until we know they've left the country." Winston said.

"I'll do my best not to be Glory bait for a couple of days," Buffy agreed. "But I want to get this over with before something goes wrong."

Spike cocked his head at Max and Winston. "How long will you two need to recuperate from whatever you're doing to the costumed twits?" he asked. "Don't want you weak when we have to go after Buffy." He shook his head. "Don't want you hurtin' yourselves either," he added. "In the long run, this is our problem—the slayer's and mine. Won't turn down the help, but don't want anybody else risking their lives for us."

Buffy took his hand and stood beside him proudly.

"What he said," she affirmed.

Giles and the two older mages exchanged looks before Giles said, "This was obviously going to happen anyway. Your coming here to try to prevent Buffy's death has nothing to do with the Key being here, or the danger Glory is to the world. If anything, the knowledge you've provided has given us an edge we clearly didn't have in your timeline. We would be very foolish not to do whatever we can to bring about a different conclusion this time."

"Exactly," Max said. "The knowledge you two have shared with us has given us a better than fighting chance against a danger we might otherwise not have recognized in time to do anything about it. Please do not concern yourself with our welfare."

" _I_ was _sent_ here to help you," Winston said. "Please remember that." He sighed. "Having said that, what we've been doing recently, and will continue tonight, is quite different from the kind of work we will have to do against Glorificus. We're merely providing some mental suggestions to the General and his underlings. It doesn't require the same level of effort as will the spell we'll be using against Glory. If we get a day to rest, we will be fine."

He smiled at Spike. "But I do thank you for your concern."

Spike shrugged. "Saw what you looked like after taking care of Joyce's tumor. I've got some idea what it can take out of you."

"In that incidence, I was doing something somewhat against my… natural abilities. Counteracting Glory's power will be more…." He cleared his throat. "More in my wheelhouse, so to speak." Winston looked somewhat embarrassed, even though he was only hinting at what his 'wheelhouse' might be. "It will be taxing, without a doubt, but not in at all the same way that was."

Buffy stared at him with new understanding. "Were you risking your life for my mom?"

"No, no. Not at all," he hastened to assure her. "I would never have mentioned doing it if I thought there was any chance of that happening. But I did have to work at it much harder than someone who was a natural healer would've. My magical talents lie in a quite different direction, and it was necessary for me to work harder to focus on destroying a tumor inside a living person than it would be if I were to de—"

Max's "Ahem!" brought Winston's explanations to an abrupt halt.

"I believe what Winston is trying to say is that he was perfectly safe and so was your mother, even though he is not a skilled healer. Tara, with her natural affinity for healing, wouldn't have been as stressed by it. If she was trained in the proper techniques, it would've been much less taxing for her," he added with a smile in her direction.

Tara blushed and tried to hide her face, but she looked very happy behind her hair, and Willow stared at her with new respect.

Spike leaned in to whisper to Buffy, "Don't know about you, but I'd love to've heard the rest of Winnie's explanation."

Buffy didn't answer him, but the look she gave Winston said she felt the same way. However, instead of asking for more about his innate talents, she turned to Max. By now it had become clear that, while he and Winston seemed to be equals in many ways, Max had become the de facto leader of their magical assistance group. She smiled at him.

"So, you guys need two more days, and then I can actively start looking for Glory?"

"You could make yourself more available to her at that time," Max agreed. "Once we know you're putting yourself in a position to be captured, it will become important that we all be in the same place—possibly here—so we can follow Spike to your location as quickly as possible."

Buffy nodded her agreement. "I can't hide between now and then, though," she said, "so let's hope she doesn't come looking for me. We still don't know if the little creep was acting on his own, or if she sent him after me. In our time, when they kidnapped Spike, they did it on their own because they thought he was the Key. With luck, that's what happened this time and she isn't looking to capture me… yet."

 **XXX**

After another round of discussion about the knights and where they might go, and some more uncomfortable Angel-bashing on Xander's part, Buffy was anxious to leave. While she was happy that it had taken his attention away from the announcement of her "marriage" to Spike, she was getting more than a little tired of hearing how hard he'd tried to "warn" her about her relationship with Angel.

"You know what? If we're done here, I think we'll hit some of the cemeteries we missed last night. Just because I have to worry about a hellgod, doesn't mean the ordinary vampires and demons are taking a break. If anything, they've gotten busier lately."

"Undoubtedly attracted to the hellmouth by the same forces that brought Glory here to open her portal. Evil calling to evil, so to speak," Giles said.

"Speaking of evil…." Spike looked at Xander. "In our time, you and I thought we'd taken out Doc. Turned out we were wrong, and he's the one that threw me off the tower and bled Dawn. Any chance you'd want to come with me one day and see if we can make his demise more permanent this time?"

Xander blinked in surprise, then nodded, clearly pleased to find himself with more of a role than he'd had so far. "Yeah, sure. I'm always up for slaying evil-doers. Why didn't it work the first time?"

"Didn't cut the bastard's head off," Spike said tersely. "Won't make that mistake this time."

Xander nodded. "Ready when you are, Fangface. I'll bring my favorite sword."

"No rush. If we take out his boss, he won't be a factor. We can get him whenever."

"Then why bother?" Tara asked quietly, earning a smile from Max.

"I owe him." Spike's abruptly different expression had all the humans cringing away. Even Max and Winston seemed somewhat taken back by his suddenly menacing demeanor, although Max nodded his head.

"You appear so human and… likeable… most of the time, it's very easy to forget what you really are," he said without any trace of judgement.

"Right, and on that cheery note, we're off to slay things. Regular, non-magical evil things." Buffy tugged on the sleeve of Spike's coat and pulled him toward the door.

As they walked out, Spike's ears picked up Xander's "Did anybody besides me get the feeling we should be glad he's on our side?"

There was a murmur of agreement that left Spike with a grin on his face.

"Well, your mood sure improved," Buffy said, able to feel his delight as well as see it. "Is it because you scared them all silly?"

"Could be," he admitted, putting his arm around her. "Could also be I'm just enjoying walking around with my girl."

"Nice try," she said with a laugh. "But I'm pretty sure you're just happy because you scared them"

"A vamp's gotta have some fun, Slayer," he said. "Let's go kill things."

"I probably shouldn't like that suggestion as much as I do," she said. "But let's do it."

 **XXX**

As they wandered home after a satisfactory couple of hours of fighting and slaying, including removing the heads of several of Glory's minions with the swords they no longer went anywhere without, they were surprised to see a car parked in front of the apartment building. The residents all had parking areas in the back, and, possibly due to Max's less noticeable wards, very rarely did anyone park in front any longer than it took to pick up or drop off something at the office.

"Looks like my message was too subtle for Angelus," Spike growled as they got close enough to see Angel standing on the sidewalk and obviously berating Max. It took Buffy a moment to recognize the tall slender man trying to get Angel's attention.

"Wesley? Is that you?"

Wes whirled around, as did Angel, but Buffy's eyes went to Max first.

"Are they giving you a hard time?" She transferred her gaze to Angel and Wesley, narrowing her eyes in a glare. "Are you two being jerks to our landlord?"

"It's not a problem, Buffy," Max said with a smile. "Your old… friends… here were upset that they couldn't get any closer to your apartment than where they are standing."

"What the hell kind of wards do you have that could stop us at the curb?" Angel glared at Spike as if it was his fault.

"Good ones, seems like," Spike said with a smirk at Max, who smirked back at him.

"If you've got this, I'll just go lock up and retire for the night," Max said, including Buffy in his questioning glance.

"Oh, we've got it," Buffy said. "Trust me."

They all waited in silence until Max had returned to his office and closed the door.

"What are you two doing here?" Buffy included them both, but her glare was aimed at Angel. "Didn't you get Spike's hint?"

"I got it," Angel growled, "but I don't understand it."

"Neither do I," Wesley put in. "He insisted you must be in danger and that he had to see you and get you away from…." He turned to Spike. "William the Bloody, I presume?"

Spike reminded himself that this Wesley had never met him and probably knew nothing except what he'd heard from Angel.

"Wouldn't be presuming anything just now, Oxford," Spike said. "But you can just call me Spike. Who knows? Under other circumstances we might be friends."

Wesley frowned in confusion, as did Angel, who growled. "Just what circumstances might that be, Spike?"

Spike shook his head. "Probably not gonna happen. I was just trying to break the ice."

"Nice save," Buffy muttered, sending him a glare before turning it back on Angel. "And _you_ ," she said. "You can't even imagine what a bad idea it was to come here."

"I'm here because you might be in danger."

" _Might be?_ " Buffy's laugh had no humor in it. "Angel, I'm the Slayer. I'm _always_ in danger. This week, I'm battling a hellgod who wants to end the world. Unless you have information to contribute to that fight, or you're planning to be here to fight with us…." She watched him exchange glances with Wes and shake his head.

"Didn't think so. You might as well go home then. We have important things to do in the next few days and neither one of us has the time or can afford to take a chance on giving you the ass kicking you deserve. And I can't promise you that an ass kicking from me wouldn't end in dust. Your dust," she added in case he might be confused.

"I don't understand, Buffy." Angel gave her his best bewildered puppy eyes. "Why would you want to dust me? Aren't you my forever girl?"

While Buffy sputtered incoherent curses, Spike spoke up. "I reckon you didn't do that long hard think I told you to? If you had, you'd be in that car and on the way out of town before the Slayer stops swearing and decides to end you."

"Stay out of this, Spike," Angel snarled. "I don't know what you've done to her, but –"

Buffy had stopped her profane threats, and said, "This is what he's done to me. And I did it right back to him."

Angel froze as Buffy bared the new mark on the left side of her neck, holding her head to the side and pulling her collar away. When she was sure he'd seen and recognized it for what it was, she twisted her head and presented him with the almost pristine right side, now missing any vampire scars or marks except the almost faded ones left by the master.

She waited quietly while he processed what he was seeing.

Wesley approached Spike cautiously and whispered, "What's going on here?"

"Wait for it," Spike whispered back. "And there it is!" he said aloud as Angel roared.

"No! That's impossible! You would never let him…. No! We can fix this, Buffy. Come to LA with us. Wes can start researching immediately. I can fix this."

"You can fix it?" Buffy said, false sweetness in her voice. "You mean without my knowledge or permission? The way you claimed me in the first place? And kept me on a leash for _years_ by getting me to say I was your girl? Is that how you're going to 'fix it', Angel?"

The fierce look she fixed on him so was obviously unlike anything he'd ever seen from her that it seemed to penetrate his rage and disappointment even better than her words. He flinched away in spite of himself, staring at her with a frown that grew deeper the longer he stared.

"You don't sound like my Buffy," he blustered. "What's he done to you?"

He switched his intent stare to Spike, then back to Buffy, who was still giving him a cold, angry slayer's glare. "Exactly how long have you two known each other?" he asked suspiciously. "And when did Spike find time to get that soul you say he has?"

"Not as dumb as he looks, is he, love?"

Buffy rolled her eyes at Spike, but nodded. "Apparently not," she said, then turned back to Angel. "And I'm not that dumb either, Angel. I can't believe you did that to me." Her voice had more sadness than anger for a moment, then tightened again. "But it's gone now. And so is any chance I will ever answer that question with anything but a loud _no._ "

"Did she say you claimed her? Without her permission?" Wesley was staring at Angel as if he'd just grown a set of horns.

"It's all sorted now, Oxford. Over and done with. And you now know a bit more about your boss and what he's capable of."

"The more I learn, the more I…." Wes shook himself. "Why do you keep calling me that? Have we met before?"

"You and me? Nope. I missed your short stay here as a watcher. But I know you."

Rather than answer Wesley's question to him, Angel turned his glare on Spike, his fangs dropping as he said, "I don't know how you did this, Spike, but you don't get to —"

He didn't finish, but launched himself at Spike, who'd correctly read his intentions and was ready for him. Before Angel had done more than throw one punch, which Spike successfully evaded, Buffy was on him, grabbing him by his belt and collar and throwing him into the street with an ease that wasn't lost on anyone.

"Touch him again, and you're dust," she said, a stake clenched in her hand as she stalked toward the former love of her life. "That leash is gone and you're just another vampire to me. And one I don't like very much right now." She gestured to the car. "Go away. You can check back with me in a couple of years to see if I've cooled off. Right now, you need to get as far away from me as you can, as fast as you can. Am I making myself clear?"

"Let's go, Angel," Wes said, getting into the driver's seat of the car. "You can explain to me what she's talking about on the way home."

With a final glare at Spike, who met it with his own cold amber-eyed stare, Angel got into the car. With one last look at Buffy and Spike, now standing side-by-side, he sank down in the passenger seat and let the car carry him away from Sunnydale.

"You okay, love?"

Buffy stared at him with wide eyes. "Of course, I'm okay. When you claimed me, that string broke. I wasn't kidding when I told him he was just another vampire. Didn't you believe me?" _Jackass,_ she thought at him.

He grinned at her. _But I'm your jackass._


	19. Chapter 19

**CHAPTER NINETEEN**

The next day, when Buffy and Spike had barely managed to fight their way out of a large group of Glory's minions, they were very grateful for Max's wards. Spike shoved Buffy onto the small lawn around the building and, after decapitating another scabby little creature, fell backwards onto the protected area himself. They lay there for a few moments, panting and watching the remaining minions flinging themselves against the invisible barrier.

"She must be getting desperate, sending them out in broad daylight."

"Reckon she figures they're expendable, and won't be around long," Spike agreed as they watched the headless bodies seem to dissolve into the pavement, as the remaining live servants began to trudge away. "Look at them. Already working on their excuses."

Buffy snorted in agreement, then gave a rueful glance at the groceries they'd had to drop when they were attacked. "What are chances any of our food survived being thrown from the middle of the street?"

She stood up and went over to gather up the items that were still reasonably intact. The split open milk carton went into a separate pile for the trashcan, along with one of Spike's containers of blood. The pile of things that were salvageable was surprisingly big, but the bags they'd carried them in had split apart, so Buffy went into the apartment to get something to carry things in.

Spike glanced up to see Max coming down the steps with an inquiring frown.

"I would have done something to help, but I didn't want to give myself away as long as you were holding your own. Which it seemed you were."

"Noticed that, did you?" Spike snorted. "We were holding our own, but we were bloody glad to be able to leave the fight when we did."

Max nodded. "It was a good idea to jump through the wards to safety. And now we know her… helpers… can't get in."

"Seems not," Spike agreed, meeting Buffy and taking one of the tote bags from her. "Guess that means we can put our things away in peace."

Buffy had already filled her bag and walked over to talk to Max while Spike picked up the rest of their groceries.

"How did last night go?" she asked. "Is everybody okay?"

Max smiled at her. "It went well. They were fairly receptive to our suggestions by last night, and I suspect when we check with Willow later today, she will have found them preparing to leave Sunnydale."

"Is she watching them for you?"

"Through her computer skills, she is. She checks on their purchases from time to time, so she'll know if they make travel plans almost as soon as they do. It's been quite helpful."

"I'm surprised she didn't want to use magic to do it," Buffy said, apparently not hiding her suspicion as well as she'd hoped, when she saw Max give a small smile.

"I believe Winston has convinced her that not only does she need to keep _all_ her skills sharp, but she shouldn't be wasting magic on things she can do by other means. Should I assume from your disbelief that you have reason to suspect that?"

Buffy sighed. "Well, yeah, I do. But that's based on stuff this Willow hasn't done yet, and probably won't with Winston keeping an eye on her." Buffy shook her head. "In our time, Tara broke up with her because she was using so much magic for so many little, unimportant things. Bringing me back from the dead made her feel pretty powerful, and she went a little nuts from it."

"I can understand that. It was a quite amazing piece of magic for someone untrained and unmentored. However, if one is going to indulge in dark magics, the hellmouth is certainly the place to do it. I doubt she would have been able to succeed in such a remarkable feat had she been anywhere else in the country."

"So she used the hellmouth to do it?" Buffy cringed inwardly at the thought.

"I'm quite certain that's where the power boost came from. She had to call on some very dark forces in order to do what she did—however poorly it may have gone at the time."

Buffy made a face. "Yeah, digging myself out of a grave was pretty much one of my nightmares—although, in my old nightmares, when I dug out I was a vampire. So, all things considered, I guess being me was better… eventually…." She smiled as Spike walked up and took the filled bag from her.

"Nothin' like living a real nightmare to put the old ones where they belong," he said with a trace of growl.

"Were you sorry I was back?"

"Don't be daft," he said, including Max in his eye roll. "That's not even funny. But as chuffed as I was to have you back in my life, I never want to see you that unhappy ever again."

"And that's why we're here," she said. "So there's no chance of it happening again."

"And on that note…." Spike smiled at Max. "How's the magic team today?"

"If you mean Winston and me, we are quite fine, thank you. I don't believe either one of us is feeling particularly stressed, although we would like to have another day of recovery, just in case.

"Not that it's necessary," he hastened to assure them. "Should something happen to Buffy, we are prepared to go into action at a moment's notice."

"Well, so far today, besides being jumped in our front yard by her scabby little minions, it's been a slow day. I think we'll keep a low profile for the rest of the afternoon, maybe go to Mom's for dinner, and just hit a couple of graveyards on the way home. Tomorrow, I'll go out and about a little more, and we can see what happens."

"That sounds like a plan. Have a pleasant evening," Max said as he waved and went back to his office.

They thanked him and continued around the building to their own door.

 **XXX**

Groceries put away, Buffy sighed and fingered her torn shirt.

"I guess we'll need to clean up and try to look less like we had to fight our way out of gang of ugly little demons," she said.

"What's your rush, love? We've got hours before we need to leave for your mum's." He patted his knee. "Why don't you sit down and tell me all about how much you enjoyed throwing the big poof out on his arse?"

She smiled at him, but instead of sitting down, she began to unbutton her shirt, saying archly, "I think I'll just go take off all my clothes and get into the shower…."

Before she had even turned to enter the bedroom, he was beside her.

"Let me do that for you, sweetheart. In fact, why don't I join you and help you get clean?"

She giggled and pulled on his belt as she backed into the bedroom.

"Looks like our minds think alike, even when we aren't trying to connect our thoughts."

"My mind is always thinking like that. And you bloody well know it, you little minx."

She giggled again. "It _is_ one of the easier things to get you to do," she allowed. "It's a good thing I like that particular little character flaw."

""S not a flaw, it's a gift," he growled, as he finished unbuttoning her shirt and pushed it off her shoulders. He nuzzled his mark, sucking on it just enough to stimulate it, but not enough to break the newly healed skin.

Buffy's only response was a breathy "mmmmmm" as she tilted her head for him. Her hands were busy unbuckling his belt and unfastening his jeans. Only when they were both as naked as they could get while standing in that position, did Spike take his mouth off her neck. As soon as they'd finished undressing, he scooped her up and carried her into the bathroom, leaving their clothes on the floor.

He set her down while he turned on the shower and waited for it to get warm. As he bent down to adjust the temperature, Buffy brushed her hand over his bare ass, sliding her fingers into the crack, and then up to nudge him right behind his balls.

His gasp and sudden clenching made her smile and continue to caress him, bringing her other arm around to hold his cock, which she began to squeeze gently. With one hand on either side of his body, she held him in place, knowing he would have to make her stop one or the other of her activities if he tried to turn around.

"Someone's feeling naughty," he purred.

"I thought I was feeling you? Are you naughty?"

"I could be…. would you like that?"

"I don't know… maybe?" She continued her assault on his cock and his ass, teasing, but never quite putting her finger where he wanted it. "Are you going to be naughty to me?"

"I am," he gasped, pushing back into her hand. "Any time now…. ready or not… in a second or two…."

The cheery ring of Buffy's phone made them both start, but Spike shook his head vigorously.

"Don't answer that. It's probably just the big poof wanting to see if you've changed your mind."

"You know that's my mom's ring," she scolded, having already let go of him. "Just let me go see what she wants and we'll pick up where we left off."

"You're going to leave me here like this?" He sent her a mental picture of him crying, causing her to snicker.

"I'll be back. Amuse yourself somehow."

Grateful that she hadn't moved under the water yet, she ran to grab her phone off the bed.

"Hi Mom, what's up?" Her entire demeanor changed. "She what? They what?"

She was already pulling on her clothes when Spike burst out of the bathroom and grabbed his jeans. Even without the claim connection, he would have known something was wrong. With it, Buffy's terror and need to rush off had come through loud and clear.

"The Bit?" he asked, almost unnecessarily,

"Dawn walked home from school and ran into a brain-sucked knight. He started talking about how she was glowing, and she ran. By the time she got home, there were two more following her. I've got to get rid of them before Glory or one of her minions notices them."

"We'll take the car, it's faster," he said as the went outside. Buffy shook her head.

"No. You get Max and tell him what's going on. I'm going to try to get them away from the house. Maybe I can lead them out into the desert. If Glory does see them, maybe she'll follow me. This could be our chance."

With a snarl, he ran upstairs, stuck his head into the office. "Call everyone. We may have a situation. I'm going to follow Buffy to her mum's."

 **XXX**

Without waiting for a response, he tore down the steps and ran to catch up with Buffy who was already a block away. Using their supernatural speed, they were at Revello Drive just in time to see a nightmarish scene unfolding.

Standing outside the wards around the house, the brain-sucked knights were moaning and crying about "the light". Surrounding the house, were Glory's remaining minions, at least twenty of them, unable to break through the invisible barrier, but shouting that the Key was in the house.

Buffy placed herself just inside the wards, facing the knights. "Get out of here. Now."

Ignoring her, they continued to moan and carry on, making it very obvious what was attracting them. Spike grabbed them one at a time and punched them into silence. He waved a hand at Buffy, and managed to half-carry, half-drag all three men down the street and into an open garage. He pulled the door shut on them and hurried back to Buffy.

"Did you…?"

"Nope. But they won't be waking up any time soon," he said. "Now what, Slayer?"

"I've got to get these creeps away from here before —"

She never got to finish as, with loud pop, Glory appeared behind her minions. They immediately began shouting that her Key was inside. She watched them futilely try to penetrate the invisible barrier, then waved her hand. The barrier vanished, allowing her servants to tumble through onto the grass.

Buffy immediately began whacking off heads and reducing their numbers, as did Spike, although without a sword, he was limited to biting and breaking necks.

"Give it up, Slayer," Glory said. "I know my Key is in there. Let me have it."

"Over my dead body," Buffy growled, decapitating another minion.

Glory shrugged. "Have it your way," she said, stepping easily into the space and slapping Spike away from Buffy. He hit a tree and was still, but Buffy could feel that he was still conscious.

"You know how this is going to go, Slayer. Let me have my Key and I'll let you live."

"That's _not_ how this is going to go," Buffy said, swinging her sword at Glory's head, just missing her neck but slicing off a chunk of hair.

"You bitch!" Glory shrieked. "Look what you did to my hair!"

She waved her hand again and Buffy found herself flying through the air to land in the neighbor's yard. Glory walked to the door, ripped it off its hinges, and reached inside to grab Dawn before she could scramble away from her vantage point at the window. Glory dragged her outside as if she weighed nothing, and began to walk away.

"Keep them here," she ordered just before vanishing with Dawn. She'd pointed to Buffy and Spike just climbing to their feet, and the remaining minions immediately rushed them. They swarmed over her in an attempt to prevent Buffy from using her weapons. Spike, however, went into game face, roaring as he began flinging them off in all directions.

"Have you got this?" Buffy demanded. "I'm going after them."

"You don't know where she's going."

Buffy's shoulders slumped, but she took out two more minions without even looking at them.

"I can't just let her go!"

"And we won't, love. Here comes the cavalry," he said as Giles's car pulled up and he, Winston and Max got out.

"Willow and Tara are on their way," Giles said. "What's our situation?"

Buffy was now seated on the porch steps, staring into space. Spike gave her a worried frown, but responded to Giles.

"The bitch showed up, figured out where the Bit was, and took her. We're right back to where we were in our time, except that there's no tower to throw anybody off so we don't know where to look."

"That's it!" Buffy leaped to her feet, suddenly re-energized.

"What's it, love?"

"She doesn't need a tower. If she's still living in that high rise that she took you to in our time, then all she needs to do is use the roof. Do you remember where it was?"

"More less," he said. "Wasn't exactly taking notes, but I did pay attention in case we—you—wanted to come back and pay her a visit."

Buffy turned her attention to Giles. "When did the Council say it was going to be time for the portal to open?"

"Not for a while yet, although they were very clear that they are making an educated guess based on very old prophecies. Even so, we should have plenty of time before she has to…. use….the Key."

"I'm not leaving Dawn with her!"

Spike snarled his agreement.

Giles sighed, saying, "She needs the Key alive in order to use her, is that not true? I'm sure she will take good care of Dawn until she needs her."

"All she needs is the Bit's blood," Spike growled. "She needs her to be alive enough to bleed, not in good condition."


	20. Chapter 20

**CHAPTER TWENTY**

"Waiting's not an option, Giles. Dawn knows what happened to her in our time—more or less—and she's got to be terrified. We need to go get her, and we need to go now!"

As Buffy faced off against Giles and the other two men, Xander pulled his car into the driveway and Willow and Tara jumped out.

"What's going on? How's Dawn?"

"Glory has taken her," Giles said. "We are discussing our options…"

 _"_ _You_ are discussing our options. I'm on my way to take that building apart brick by brick until I find her." She whirled on Spike. "Do you know what floor you were on?"

He shook his head. "Close to the top. Think I saw a six on the elevator door as I crawled through it, but I wouldn't swear to that. I was a little too busy trying to stay undusty to be checkin' addresses. Just know it was a bloody long drop down that elevator shaft."

"What building are we talking about?" Xander joined the conversation in time to ask a practical question.

"It's a highrise, on top of a hill, somewhere on the edge of town. We can find it again. How many like that can there be in Sunnydale?"

Willow held up her laptop, saying, "Or, I can look up the address where that doctor, Ben whats-his-name, lives and we might even be able to find out what floor he lives on. If your mom will let me connect to her router."

"Brilliant, Red!"

Willow gave Spike a surprised smile, that widened when she realized he meant the rare praise.

"His last name is Wilkinson, or something like that," Buffy said, gesturing toward the house and trying to soothe Joyce who was demanding to know where Dawn was in a voice that was growing shriller with every repetition of her question.

"We've got this, Mom. I promise you. We'll have her back in no time. You just need to let Willow connect to your internet for a few minutes. Okay?"

"Of course, if that's going help us get Dawn back. It's in here, Willow."

Willow followed Joyce into the dining room and set up at the table. In just a few minutes, she had found a site that allowed her to search for apartment buildings in and around Sunnydale.

"Here are some that fit the description, Buffy. Do you recognize any of them?"

Buffy peered over her shoulder. "That one!" She pointed at the middle picture. "Now that I see the part of town it's in, I remember where it was. All we need now is the apartment number."

"On it," Willow said.

"Do you want the phone book?" Joyce asked as she held it up, obviously trying to feel she was contributing.

"Thanks, but I don't think they put apartment numbers in the phone book. I'm just hacking in to the hospitals records…." Willow frowned, then smiled. "There he is. Apartment 603. And he's on the night shift tonight, so—"

"So he'll have to leave the building while he's human." Spike's snarl startled Joyce, but Buffy nodded at him.

"Let's go. I remember pretty much how to get there, and now we've got the address, we can't miss it." Buffy turned to Joyce and gave her a quick hug.

"I'll call you as soon as Dawn's safe. Just stay in the house with the doors locked, okay? I don't want to have to worry about you too. I'll ask Max to redo the wards before we leave."

She waited until Joyce had nodded numbly, then dashed outside to tell Giles they'd found where Dawn was being held and that Max needed to redo the wards.

"Willow has the address. Meet us there!" Buffy threw back over her shoulder as she took to her heels.

Spike hesitated for a second. "You'll be right behind us, yeah?"

As soon as he'd received positive responses from everyone, he ran after Buffy, exerting every bit of his supernatural speed to keep up, and thanking the Powers that he still had the Gem of Amara and could follow Buffy in broad daylight.

Both Buffy and Spike were already out of sight by the time Max had reinstated the wards, Willow had given the address to Giles and Xander, and they had sorted out who would go in which car.

 **XXX**

Once Buffy had figured out where the building was, she remembered chasing the snake in that direction, and then going there to get Spike away from Glory before he could tell her about Dawn. She veered off the streets and began running through backyards and over fences. Spike cast a wistful glance at what looked like a pick-up soccer game on one field they went through so quickly the players were left staring around not sure they'd really seen two blond people run through their game.

"Bet they wish you played for them," Buffy gasped.

"Might come back one day and see if I can join," he responded. "I'm a little rusty, but my speed could make up for that."

"You'd be a cheater," she said, giving him a glare.

"I'd be pretending I'm still evil," he countered. "You can't take away all my fun."

They left the residential neighborhood behind and ran through an industrial park, dodging people just leaving work and going to their cars. As they left those buildings behind, the found themselves gazing up at an ordinary-looking apartment building on top of a small hill.

They paused and stared at it.

"That's got to be even taller than the tower she made in our time. The roof would be a perfect place for her to open a bloody portal. Wonder why she didn't do it that way back then?"

Buffy shrugged. "Maybe because she had all that free labor? Or because she knew we knew where she was? In our time, she probably didn't stay here after we came after you."

"Good point, love. She's smart enough to have moved on to someplace the Slayer wouldn't know about." He cocked his head at the tower. "I count six floors, so if that apartment number was right, she's already living close to the roof. We could fight her there…."

"How are we going to get our magic backup close enough? That sixth floor is probably crawling with scabby little creatures."

He looked behind them at the industrial park, already mostly empty as everyone left to go home.

"Lot's of open space between here and there," he said. "If we can get them close to the building and lure her down here…."

"We don't have anything to lure her with. She already has what she wants…." Buffy's voice had a little quiver as she trailed off, her shoulders slumping.

"Don't quit on me now, Slayer…." He put his arm around her and pulled her closer to his side. "We've got this. We just need to tweak our plan a little bit."

"The plan was to kill her before she got to Dawn." Buffy allowed herself to enjoy the comfort of his powerful arm for a few seconds, the took a deep breath and stood up straighter. "Okay. Plan B is to try to get Ben to leave the building so you can bite him. He has to go to work sometime, right? Isn't that what Willow said?"

"He does. Good thinking, pet. This far off from her time to go home, she probably has to keep him working and out and about in the world, at least enough to not have the police come looking for him to find out why he hasn't shown up at the hospital."

Buffy looked around for some place to hide, settling on behind a big rock under a tree that she hoped would block the view of anyone looking down.

"I'm going to wait here and watch for him. You go intercept everybody else and send them to the parking lot behind us. As soon as Ben comes out, they can start their magic stuff."

"Sounds like a plan. I'll be right back." He paused to glare at her. "Don't do anything stupid while I'm gone."

Buffy blinked at him innocently. "That's not part of the plan."

He eyed her with suspicion, but she just continued to sit calmly, her back against the rock. "Go on," she said. "You need to catch them before they come roaring up to the front of the building."

With one last warning glare, he turned and began running to intercept the two cars carrying their magical surprise for Glory.

 **XXX**

Buffy leaned back and ran her gaze up the building, trying to imagine which windows might be the ones hiding her sister. In spite of the calmness she'd shown Spike, every fiber of her body was screaming at her to run into the building, up the stairs, tear down the door of number 603, and bring Dawn out with her, leaving headless demons in her wake. Only the knowledge that if Glory killed her they would never get Dawn back and the portal would be opened, kept her sitting still, her hands clenched into fists.

By the time Spike got back, having steered their help into the parking lots and pointed to where Buffy was hiding, she was on her feet and straining toward the building. She leaned on the rock as if using it as an anchor. He put a gentle hand on her arm.

"Buffy? Sweetheart?"

She took a deep breath and shuddered. "I'm okay. I just can't stand this waiting." She glanced at him. "Is everybody ready?"

"Will be as soon as they themselves sorted. They're going to have to stay down there for a while. This tree isn't going to hide a mob."

He sank to the ground, tugging gently on Buffy's hand until she reluctantly allowed herself to be pulled down beside him.

"That's my girl," he murmured.

"Your girl would have been on the fourth floor by now," she grumbled. "This is your girl 2.0, and I don't think I like her."

"This _is_ my girl, just a mite older and wiser than the one I fell in love with. This one isn't going to die on me." He lifted the hand he was still holding to his lips. "Not if I have anything to say about it this time."

They sat in silence for a while, staring at the front door as if they could force Ben to come out. Instead, the door flew open and Glory stepped out and stared right at them. Behind her, minions streamed out of the building, forming a protective arc in front of her.

"This is just creepy, Slayer. Sitting there staring at my house. Come over here and fight me like the hero you're supposed to be."

"Fuck" Spike whispered.

"Where's Max and our magic crew?" Buffy asked quietly as she stood up.

"Just down the hill. Watching."

"Now might be a good time for them to come closer," Buffy said, beginning to move toward the building.

"Slayer! Wait for your backup!" Spike reached for her hand again, but she shook him off.

"You can come to take out some minions as soon as you get the backup up here. I'll keep her busy till then."

Snarling his complete disagreement, Spike slid half-way down the hill, shouting for Max and Winston and pointing to the building. Not waiting to see if they heard him, he turned around and chased after Buffy, who had engaged the minions now blocking her access to Glory.

For as long as they could, they fought off Glory's ugly servants, only too prepared to die in her honor. With Spike at her side, Buffy was working her way through the seemingly endless supply of scabby little creatures, all praising Glorificus as Spike and Buffy lopped off their heads or other body parts. When she finally broke through and began belaboring Glory with her sword, she tried to keep moving too quickly to be injured by the furious hellgod.

"Stand still! What's wrong with you?" Glory grunted as she barely grazed Buffy's head with her fist.

Buffy was seriously wishing she had Olaf's hammer as she began to tire and Glory's blows started catching her more often than not. She found herself flying through air and gave a moan of despair, but when she struggled to her feet, she saw Glory begin to shake.

"Not now!" Glory shrieked, as she began to change into Ben.

"Slayer, switch!" Spike yelled, leaping at the still only partially human man.

Buffy went back to fighting the minions, trying to keep them away from Spike who was fighting a man in a red dress who obviously hadn't completed the transition from god to human. He leaped on Ben/Glory, but was immediately thrown into the building wall.

"Spike!" Buffy fought her way to him, but he waved her off.

"Get out of the way, Slayer," he growled, shifting into his vampire mien.

Buffy could see Giles, Max, Winston, and Willow on the edge of the battle area, chanting with joined hands. Willow's free hand was being held by Tara who was doing her own, seemingly unrelated, chant. In front of them, Xander wielded a sword enthusiastically, if not skillfully, managing to keep any minions who noticed what was going on from interrupting the spell being cast.

Spike threw himself back onto Ben/Glory, who seemed to be trying to escape into the building. A few small demons who'd escaped Buffy's furious assault on their numbers tried to attack him, but he paid little attention to them unless they got within easy reach of his fangs. He concentrated on keeping Ben/Glory busy fighting him and unable to retreat from the chanting spell casters.

The chant suddenly seemed to reach a crescendo, and Winston stepped forward, pointing his arm at Glory. The magic visibly left his hand and hit the struggling god in the torso. With another outraged shriek, she became completely Ben, with no trace left of the hellgod.

Instantly, Spike sank his fangs into Ben's throat and ripped it open, allowing the blood to spray freely, making no attempt to feed on it. When the weakened man had collapsed to the ground to a chorus of moans from the remaining minions, Spike stepped behind him and twisted his head until he'd wrenched it off. Unlike a vampire or a demon, the body parts didn't turn to dust or disappear. They just lay there, a headless body with a gaping neck wound, and a pale head with startled eyes staring at nothing.

As the few minions left began to disappear, as did the dissolving bodies of their decapitated companions, everyone began to relax. Casting an eye at the gory sight at Spike's feet, Xander said, "Can I just say ewwww? And… good job, I guess… but still—ewww."

They had yet to completely relax, even to the point of going into the building to find Dawn, when Doc exited the building, dragging her with him. His tail swinging behind him, he moved confidently down the sidewalk. The clawed hand wrapped around Dawn's throat was a surprise to Buffy and Spike. The claws were clearly already somewhat embedded in Dawn's throat, making it obvious a rescue was going to be difficult and probably fatal to Dawn. His long tongue flickered out, making Dawn cry out as he brushed her cheek with it.

"We'll just be leaving now, Slayer. I'll contact you later about what I want in return for not using the Key to open that portal and bring hell on earth."

Spike snarled as he approached from one side, Xander walked up from the other, sword hanging loosely from his hand.

"We want the head off, right?" Xander said, flinching from the tongue that almost hit his face.

"Mind his tail," Spike said with a nod, gesturing to the more dangerous appendage that had knocked him off the tower.

"If either of you gets close enough to worry about my tail, I'll kill the girl and worry about escaping later," Doc said confidently. "I doubt the Slayer would be happy about that."

"Guys…." Buffy's voice was anguished, but firm. She faced Doc. "Do you really want to have all three of us fighting over who gets to kill you?"

"He'd best hope I don't win that fight," Spike snarled. "Don't plan to make it quick…"

In spite of their words, none of them seemed willing to risk Dawn's life by actually attacking the demon holding her by the neck. He continued his progress down the walk, smirking at the frustration on Buffy's face. He hardly paid attention when Winston walked up to them, not having actually seen what role the watching humans had played in Glory's demise.

With a wave of his hand, reminiscent of how he'd frozen Willow so long ago, Winston lifted the now immobile demon into the air several inches and held him there while Spike and Buffy ran to release Dawn from his grip. Buffy pulled at his hand but couldn't quite get it to release completely without tearing Dawn's throat.

"Not a problem," Spike said. He took hold of the offending claw-tipped fingers and broke them one at a time, biting the last one off and spitting it out on the sidewalk. Although Doc had been unable to move or speak, his eyes showed that he was very aware and conscious of what was happening to him.

Dawn stumbled away from the bleeding demon and into Buffy's arms. The two sisters watched Winston as he gazed at Doc with a strange expression on his face. Shuddering all over, he looked at Xander first, and then at Spike who had picked up Buffy's discarded sword.

"Are you ready, gentlemen?" he asked with an odd hitch in his voice.

Buffy looked at him with narrowed eyes. ''Why do I get the feeling you don't really want them to have him?"

"Because I don't," he said more tersely than they were used to from him. He was visibly restraining himself. "But they owe him. It isn't my debt."

With another wave of his hand, he let the demon drop to the ground where Spike was on him before Doc had time to run. He held the snarling demon by one arm while Xander stepped up, sword already swinging at Doc's neck. The sword connected with a muffled thunk and Doc's head dropped to the pavement and rolled away. His body began to dissolve into a blue liquid that trickled down to ooze into the gutter. Spike followed the head, stomping on it with his heavy boots until it also was just a liquid puddle.

Buffy watched with interest as Max walked up to Winston and asked quietly, "Are you going to be all right?"

Winston closed his eyes, took a deep breath, which he held briefly, then opened his eyes and nodded. It was obvious that a great deal of tension had just left his body.

"I'm fine," he replied. "But thanks for checking."

Vowing to herself that she was going to get an explanation for that conversation, Buffy turned her attention back to Dawn.

"Are _you_ all right? Did that skanky bitch hurt you?"

Dawn shook her head. "Not really. The popping away and reappearing in her apartment wasn't as much fun as that might sound. I think I threw up… But then she was Ben, I guess, and he cleaned me up and gave me some water to drink. It was weird." She rubbed her neck where Doc's fingernails had left bloody indentations. "These things don't feel great, though."

"We'll clean them up when we get you home. Mom's probably going out of her mind wondering where you —" She stopped as her phone vibrated in her pocket. "And there she is…."

She walked off a short distance, leaving Dawn to be fussed over by Tara and Willow.

"Hi Mom. Yeah, I know, I know. We've just been a little busy here and….yes, I know you were wondering where we all went. I'm sorry. We were in a hurry. Yes, she's fine. We'll be home in a little while."


	21. Chapter 21

**CHAPTER TWENTY-ONE**

After reassuring Joyce that Dawn was fine and they would all be home by dinnertime, Buffy put the phone away and joined the group surrounding her sister. She was just in time to watch Tara ghosting her hand over the small puncture wounds on Dawn's neck, causing the oozing blood to stop and, according to Dawn, alleviating the pain.

"Wow. Good trick," Buffy said. "Have you always been able to do that?"

Tara blushed. "My mother taught me her healing spells, but I don't think I could have done it that easily without the boost I got here."

"Boost?" Willow turned a suspicious glare on Max. "You said she was just anchoring us to the earth. Was she taking magic from me—us?"

Tara flinched away from Willow's accusatory words, and Winston's eyes narrowed as he stared at Willow.

In his usual calm and soothing manner, Max said, "What Tara means is, her normal healing ability was enhanced by the time she spent anchoring us to the earth magic that is the source of her strength. She was pulling additional power from the earth, not from us. All she was doing for us was anchoring us to that earth magic as a counterpoint to any other powers we may have been exploiting."

"Oh." Willow bit her lip, then gave Tara a tentative smile of apology. "I'm sorry, baby. I didn't mean for that to sound the way it did. I'm just feeling a little… drained… and I don't know why."

"The why," Max said, "is because you have just participated in a very powerful and potentially dangerous spell. It was the sort of spell that would be stressful for even a well-trained practitioner with years of experience in that sort of magic. The fact that you and Rupert could participate on an equal basis with someone of my..." He coughed. "…experience, as well as with someone as capable of—" He paused when Winston cleared his throat and walked away. "… someone like Winston, is a tribute to how potentially powerful you both are. The spell has undoubtedly taken a toll on all us and I suspect we'll sleep well tonight."

Willow frowned, then looked over to where Winston had picked up one of the swords and was swinging in a comfortable, if casual manner.

"Winston doesn't look tired. Look what he did to Doc. And he's the one who sent the magic into Glory. He should be more drained than any of us, and he looks like he's just getting started."

Before Max could come up with a suitable reply, Spike said softly, "I'm guessing it's in everyone's best interest that he seems to think he's done for the day."

Max shot him a startled glance, but nodded. "You have no idea how right you are," he said, also in a voice too quiet to be heard by anyone without vampire hearing.

"Reckon whoever sent him back to help us knew what they were doing, then," Spike said as Buffy walked up.

"I sincerely hope so," Max replied, then smiled at Buffy. "I take it your sister is going to be all right?"

"I think so. She's made from me, so she's tougher than she looks. And she's safe now." She poked Spike. "Xander's going to take Dawn home. I told Mom we'd be there for dinner as soon as we've made sure everybody else is going to okay."

"I believe everyone else is going to collapse and sleep for the next twelve hours or so," Giles said, smiling at Tara who was making no attempt to appear to be anything but exhausted. Even Willow was visibly moving slowly and yawning, although obviously trying to hide it. Giles yawned himself and began walking down the hill. "I'll be in my car. If you want a ride back into town, I suggest you join me there."

"Come on, everybody. We'll walk you to the cars, and then I have to go remind my mom that this has gone much better than it did in our time."

 **XXX**

By time Buffy and Spike got to Joyce's, she'd already fussed over Dawn enough that she was able to relax and listen to Buffy's terse recitation of the fight with Glory.

"So, she's gone, and you didn't need to jump off a tower to save the world? Mission accomplished?"

"Seems so," Spike said quietly. "Bit hard to believe it's all over now and everything still feels the same. 's like there's another bloody shoe just waiting to drop…. "

Buffy frowned at him. "I'm calling it a win, so you can just keep your Gloomy Gus comments to yourself."

"Right you are, love. We did what we came here to do, so we should be celebrating."

"Exactly," Buffy said. Although she could feel his lack of confidence through the claim, she didn't call him on it until they were on the way home.

"Why are you still worried? We did it, didn't we?"

"Doc's little kidnapping attempt made me think, is all. Most demons are probably pretty happy just livin' on the hellmouth, but there're always gonna be some that think bringing hell on earth could be a lot of fun... for demons. Remember old Angelus thought pulling the whole world into a hell dimension was a brilliant idea."

"So, you think Dawn's not out of danger yet?"

"All I'm saying is, don't count on it. I'm not gonna relax until summer. If we get through till then 'thout losing your mum…. or you, or having to stop some other demented demon from starting an apocalypse, then I'll be willing to say mission accomplished."

"Wow. You just totally smushed my excitement."

"Sorry, love. Not saying any of those things are _gonna_ happen, just that we won't know if any of them were meant to be until time's up."

He stopped walking, pivoting in front of her and resting his hands on her shoulders.

"Don't want you to not be happy and enjoy that we kicked the hellbitch out of our lives, just be aware that I'm not letting down my guard until it's mid-summer and you and your mum are still here and the Bit is having the time of her life at the beach." He rested his forehead against hers. "Love you too much to take a chance on losing you anyway just because I got careless and thought we were home free."

Buffy leaned into him and slid her arms around his waist.

"You're right," she sighed. "I was so focused on Glory, I forgot that there are other things that could go wrong yet. I don't think 'home free' is something a slayer ever gets to be. 'Nice summer vacation' is probably the best I can hope for."

"Exactly. Just so you don't spend that vacation the same place you did in our time." He dropped a kiss on the top of her head. "Now, what say we go home and finish what you started this morning…"

Buffy laughed and pulled away from him to begin walking again. "You are incorrigible."

"I'm not. I'm very corrigible. Just try me."

"Is that even a word? Are you making fun of me?"

"Would I do that? Mock somebody who could kill me?" He laughed and took her hand. "And yes, it _is_ a word. I promise you it is."

 **XXX**

They entered their apartment and dropped their weapons inside the door.

"Clean 'em tomorrow?"

Buffy nodded her agreement. "Yeah. I'm too tired to worry about cleaning swords tonight." She perked up. "Hey, maybe the demon guts and blood will disappear just like the bodies did."

He laughed. "We can always hope. Race you into the shower… speaking of demon guts and blood…." He gestured to himself and then to her.

"Oh, ugh! I'm surprised Mom didn't make us eat out on the porch. Let's drop the clothes here near the swords. I'll decide tomorrow which ones are worth washing and which ones should just be tossed out."

"Not tossing my coat!" he growled as he shrugged out of the tattered-looking leather.

"You _could_ use a new one, you know," Buffy said with a frown. "If you really can't part with that… trophy… you could always just put it away in a trunk or something."

He held up his coat and studied it, then cocked his head at Buffy. "If it bothers you, why haven't you said so? I can find another one."

She shrugged. "We talked about this a long time ago. To me, it's a reminder that you killed Robin's mother—another slayer. To you, it's a way to honor her death. I don't really get that, but I believe you that you don't mean it to disrespect her." She sighed and shook her head. "But I'd be lying if I said it doesn't bother me once in a while. Not often," she added quickly. "That coat says 'Spike' to me, and if something happened to you, I'd probably sleep with it—at least until it didn't smell like you anymore. But I could get just as attached to a new one…."

She stopped talking and began shedding her own torn and bloody clothes.

Spike dropped his hand to his side, letting the coat trail on the floor.

"Should have spoken up, love. It's not as important to me now as it was before I got the soul. More like it's just part of who I am, you know?"

"I know," she said, smiling at him as she walked toward the bedroom. "Right now, I'm more interested in the you that's usually underneath it. Meet you in the shower."

He watched her naked body disappear around the corner and hastily dropped the coat on the small pile of torn and bloody clothing, following quickly with his own boots and clothes. He hurried after her and the sound of running water.

 **XXX**

Unlike her playful behavior before Joyce's phone call, Buffy was all business in the shower. Her face was already glowing from having had a refreshing scrub, and she was shampooing her hair before Spike had even entered the bathtub. Taking his cue from her, he began gently washing her body with a loofa sponge, making no attempt to turn the familiar activity into foreplay.

As soon as she'd rinsed her hair and body, she changed places so he could be under the water, and while he washed the dust and grime from his own hair, she efficiently and quickly scrubbed off his body. She giggled when, in spite of her lack of attention, his cock began to fill.

"Is that a hint?" she asked, exchanging the sponge for her hand and beginning to lather it from the tip down to his balls. His muffled growl made her giggle again as the instant response under her hand answered her question. Ignoring his increased breathing and encouraging whimpers, she pushed him under the water until he was rinsed off, then, with a promissory kiss to the tip, she stepped out of the tub and began to dry off.

Spike turned the water off and quickly joined her, taking the towel from her hands and helping remove the water from her skin. While she dried her hair as best she could with another towel, he gave his own body a rapid rub and ran the towel over his hair.

"Good enough," he growled, dropping the towels and picking a giggling Buffy up to carry her to the bed.

"My hair's still wet!" she said, her complaint lacking any trace of sincerity.

"We'll put a towel under your head," he promised. "Or you can be on top. I'm easy that way."

"You're easy all ways," she grumbled, squirming until he put her down. She shoved him hard enough to knock him onto his back, then pounced on him, smiling when he easily caught her in mid-air .

"See?" she said, as he held her hips and pulled her toward his face. "So easy…."

"Know what my girl likes," he said, his voice already slightly muffled by what he was doing to her.

Helpless to do anything in her current position but offer panting encouragement, Buffy whimpered her way to a quick orgasm. As he lowered her hips down his body, she sank down onto him and began to squeeze her appreciation for his foreplay.

"And she knows what I like… " he gasped as she brought him to so close to release that he had to roll over so she was beneath his moving body and he could bring her along with him. With the experience born of making love on an almost daily basis for well over a year, they were soon smiling at each other's sated expression.

"Nobody does that better than we do," Buffy sighed.

"Got to admit, you're probably right, love," he said, his rich chuckle jiggling her body. She wriggled against him for a second, then, with a sigh, nudged him into rolling off.

She kissed his disappointed face, but sat up saying, "I need to dry my hair before I go to sleep."

Following words with actions, she walked to the bathroom, from which he could soon hear the droning whir of the dryer. While she was doing her hair, he moved under the covers. When she returned, he held up one side for her to slip in beside him, which she did with an appreciative smile.

As she snuggled into his side, she yawned saying, "We probably should have patrolled tonight. It's still pretty early."

"We worked hard enough already tonight," he said. "Evil's just going to have to wait."

"Sounds like a plan," she agreed as her eyes drifted shut. "We'll get 'em tomorrow."

"That we will, Slayer."


	22. Chapter 22

**CHAPTER TWENTY-TWO**

With everyone taking a rest day or two, it was the end of the week before Giles suggested they should have a meeting to discuss where they now stood in terms of possible dangers for the rest of the year.

Max once again offered his meeting room, but assured Buffy that he had no intention of inserting himself in to her life unnecessarily.

"I'll attend for the recap, and to offer any suggestions I may have, but I believe I'll just go back to being the landlord, if it's all the same to you."

He said it with a smile, but Buffy knew he'd far exceeded his normal interactions with other people to help them out with Glory. "Thank you," she said with a nod of agreement.

Spike added his own, "More than happy to let you go back to bein' the man we call when the plumbing doesn't work." He gave a small smile of his own. "That mean you're givin' up tutoring Glinda?"

Max frowned, then laughed. "Ah yes, The Good Witch," he said. "That does fit Tara nicely, doesn't it? And, no. If she's willing, I'll be happy to mentor her as she builds her healing skills. Had her mother lived, I'm sure she would be a very skilled and valuable healer by now."

"Havin' met her wanker of a father, and cretin of a brother, I'm not as sure of that as you are. The poor woman probably died just to get away from that soddin' family."

Buffy rolled her eyes, but added her own explanation. "They were just looking for another slave. Apparently, they'd used her mother's healing abilities to make them think they were both demons who had to be kept away from other people. When it was time for Tara's twentieth birthday, they showed up and tried to convince her she had to go home with them so they could 'protect people' from her demon nature. It took Spike to show Tara they lied and she wasn't a demon."

"I'll have to ask her about that one day," Max said. "She hasn't mentioned any family other than her mother."

"With good reason," Spike growled. "I made it bloody clear to that side of her family that Sunnyhell has _real_ demons, and they'd best keep their distance from now on."

Max laughed softly. "I'm sure you gave a very convincing argument."

Spike shrugged. "They were cowards _and_ wankers. Didn't take much."

The next to arrive were Giles and Winston, who walked in and glanced around the room.

"Are we the first to arrive?"

"Yep. You're being all British and punctual, as usual."

"You make that sound like some sort of character flaw," Giles said stiffly.

Winston smothered a smile as Max and Spike laughed.

"Relax, Watcher. She insults me for my heritage too, more often than not," Spike said.

Buffy tossed her head. "It's not like you and Giles don't mock us all the time. 'Bloody colonials' —does that ring a bell?"

"Right you are, pet. We're rude wankers, the lot of us."

"See, now you're making fun of me again." She narrowed her eyes and glared at him.

"Only because you're so cute when you're brassed off." He tapped her on the nose, earning a more serious glare that had him backing up and stepping behind Winston.

"Hey! Don't try to hide behind the man who didn't insult her." Winston's attempt to appear genuinely frightened didn't fool anybody, least of all Buffy, who just snorted.

"I already know what you can do to keep Spike safe," she said. "I wouldn't bother to try…. and anyway, he has to come home with me. I'll take care of him there."

"Lookin' forward to it, love," he said with a leer that made everyone react to the implied TMI.

As Willow, Tara, Xander and Anya walked into the room, Giles welcomed them warmly. "Oh, thank God, you're here," he said to their obvious surprise.

"Didn't you expect us to be?" Willow frowned.

"He did. Relax, Wills. He's just trying to change the subject because Spike was being an ass." Buffy welcomed them with a smile of her own.

"Spike? An ass. I'm shocked! Shocked, I tell you, shock—"

Spike's snarl interrupted him, but Xander just grinned unrepentantly.

"Since we are all here, why don't we begin our…."

"Debriefing?"

Giles raised his eyebrows at Buffy's use of the military term, but continued.

"For lack of a better word, I suppose that will do. Let's all have a seat and begin, shall we?"

As soon as they were all settled, he looked at Buffy. "Would you like to go first?"

She nodded. "Well, the first thing I want to do is thank Max for helping us out. I know he doesn't like to use his magic very often and —"

"You don't?" Willow looked surprised. "Why not? If I had your power, I'd use it all the time. I'd never lift a finger again."

There was a brief silence as Max, Winston, Giles, and, surprisingly, Tara all wore the same uncomfortable expressions. Willow glanced around at them.

"What?"

"One of the first rules of using magic is to use it judiciously," Max said a more stern tone than any of them were used to hearing from him. "I'm sorry circumstances did not allow you to absorb that important lesson before we had to do such a powerful spell. Perhaps, now that things have calmed down, Winston can resume his mentoring."

"I don't think I need any more mentoring," Willow muttered. "I'm probably just as strong as he is now."

Another awkward silence followed before Max said, so quietly only those sitting closest to him and Spike could hear, "I suggest you not test that theory."

Winston looked very uncomfortable as he clearly struggled to respond without angering Willow further. "I think what Max means is we —I— still have much I could share with you. You do have a great deal of power for someone so young; however, there are many ramifications to the excessive use of magic that I haven't had time to talk about with you yet. Ramifications that both Max and I have had our entire lives to learn—sometimes the hard way. You may want to consider profiting from our experiences rather than having to endure those lessons yourself."

Willow looked back and forth between them, then asked bluntly, "How old are you, Max?"

"Very," was the terse response. "As is Winston, albeit not as close to doddering as I."

"'Very' isn't a very specific answer," Willow said with a frown. "It's kinda rude."

"No, it isn't specific," Giles interrupted. "Nor is it rude. Certainly not as rude as your question. The operative information here is that they have, between them, many more years of experience in the realm of magic than either you or I, and it would behoove us to welcome whatever of that hard-won experience they are willing to share with us." He sighed. "I, for one, intend to take full advantage of having Winston as a magical resource, now that I've been made aware that the Council has been trying to keep from me information I should have had."

He gave Willow a rueful smile. "In all good conscience, it's difficult to blame them for it, given my reckless and dangerous use of magic when I was young and rebellious. It was, perhaps, in my best interest that I not be aware that I could be capable of anything more than dis-invite or locator spells. Once I joined the Council, my magical training was restricted to learning the ethics and responsibilities of magic use. Something that was drilled into me by the coven during my time with them."

Willow glanced around the table, seeing nothing but nodding and smiles of agreement from everyone, including Tara. With a sigh and a shrug, she sank back in her chair.

"Okay. Forget I asked. What did you want to say, Buffy?"

Shooting Willow a look that promised conversation later, Buffy continued, "As I was saying, I know Max is a very private person and doesn't use his magic unless he absolutely has to, so I think we all owe him our thanks for his help in organizing what turned out to be a dangerous but important part of our mission. I'm pretty sure we couldn't have done that by ourselves. In our time, except for Olaf's hammer, which we don't have now, we didn't have much that Glory couldn't blow off with a wave of her hand. So, thank you, Max, and I hope we won't have to bother you again."

Max nodded his response and gestured for her to continue.

"Okay, the second thing is… Spike is a worry wart... but he's probably right. We're not really home free yet. The date for opening the portal is still a couple of months away, and Spike thinks Doc might not be the only demon who thinks it would be a good idea to open it up. So, I still have to worry about keeping Dawn safe until the time passes. Which is gonna be a lot easier to do when I only have to worry about demons instead of a hellgod, but…."

"But any demons interested in opening a portal to a hell dimension are likely to be heavy-hitters," Spike said. "Old and smart like Doc. We might not even see them comin'."

"So, the Buffster still has some fighting left to do?"

"Most likely," Spike growled. "And what she's going up against isn't going to be easy. The mission could still go down the tubes if one of them gets lucky." He went into game face briefly. "Not that I'm not goin' to be watching out for her and tearing the head off any demon that even looks at her funny, but…."

"But he's not supervamp and I'm not supergirl, so we'll be doing our best to see that nothing happens to either one of us, or to Dawn, so the world stays safe."

"Why don't you just hide her somewhere?" Anya's expression said it was the obvious thing to do.

Buffy and Spike exchanged looks, then sighed in unison.

"We tried that idea out on her," Buffy said. "Mom was okay with it, but Dawn flat-out refuses to miss the last two months of school this year." She shrugged. "I think it'll be all right. The wards on the house—" she stopped to smile at Max and Winston— "should keep her safe there, and I'm going to be with her everywhere she goes when she's not at home." She grimaced. "I'm pretty sure she's going to hate both of us by the time school is out, but too bad. She's got shadows everywhere she goes until we know the danger is over."

"Then it's just back to regular old Sunnydale dangers," Xander said with a grin.

"Yep."

Giles noticed the expression on Spike's face and said, "Something else you'd like to share?"

Spike shook his head. "Keepin' the Bit safe means Buffy won't have to sacrifice herself to close a portal, but doesn't mean she can't die some other way, if that's what's meant to be." His face clearly showed how he felt about that. "In our time, I'd made a promise to take care of Dawn, so I stayed and did that and patrolled with you lot so you didn't all become vampire meals."

He stared around the table. "Just so we're clear on this… Back then, I was only a soulless vamp in love with a woman I never expected to have. I grieved, don't doubt it, but I would have got through it. Can't say that now. I've got two more years of bein' in her life in our own time, plus another two years with her here as complete partners. And now with the claim…." He exhaled harshly. "Something happens to Buffy, you're all on your own."

"You'd leave us to fend for ourselves? While you do what? Go off to eat people somewhere else?" Willow looked indignant.

"I think he means, he wouldn't survive losing Buffy again," Tara said softly.

There was silence as Buffy and Spike moved closer together and everyone absorbed what he'd said.

"Okay, then. So bubble-wrap for Buffy _and_ Dawn until summer," Xander said, his humor not hiding the look of sympathy he sent toward Spike.

"If I thought that would work…." He shrugged. "Slayer'd never stand for it, so I'm just gonna be her shadow while she shadows the Bit."

Giles broke into the murmurs around the table. "Is that it?"

Buffy shook her head. "I hope so. I mean, since Mom never had that surgery, and we know to keep an eye on her, I'm not expecting her to die." She gave Winston a grateful smile. "But, we don't know if that was meant to be or not. I guess she could get hit by a bus or something, but…."

"But if that happens, Buffy won't have to handle it on her own. I'll be here to help her through it."

"You didn't help her in your time?" Xander looked like he was rethinking his new found sympathy for Spike. He flinched when Spike snarled at him.

"Wasn't welcome in the house, was I? Distinctly remember bein' told I had no right to even bring flowers, in spite of Joyce having always been so nice to me. Some people thought I was using her mum's death as an excuse to get closer to Buffy." The accompanying look made it very clear who "some people" were, and Xander shrank away from the lethal glare.

"That wasn't me," he protested. "I mean, I guess it was me, but not _this_ me. I'm all about the Spike and Buffy, sitting in a tree…."

Buffy put a hand on Spike's arm and gave a gentle squeeze until he stopped glaring. "It's okay, Xan. We know it wasn't you… but sometimes we have to work sort of hard to remind ourselves that we can't be mad at you for things you haven't done and probably won't. Any of you," she added, staring around the table and ending with Giles, who coughed before he spoke.

"Yes, well, I'm sure we're all grateful for that bit of forbearance on your part. Now then, would anyone else like to contribute?"

Max cleared his throat and smiled at Tara. "I would be honored if Tara would continue to visit me from time to time so we can continue to work on her healing skills."

Tara blushed, but smiled back at him without her usual embarrassed attempts to hide behind her hair. "I'd… I'd really like that," she said.

"Well, that's settled then." Max stood and beamed at the people around the table. "I'll just take myself off to my office. It's been a pleasure meeting and working with you all. I'm confident Sunnydale is in the best of hands and the future is going to be much brighter than it could be. Good night, all." With that, he walked out and disappeared down the hall.

"Why does he want to help Tara instead of me?" Willow asked, looking at Winston. "Shouldn't he be teaching me healing and stuff?"

"Max is a practitioner of earth magic himself," Winston said. "He enjoys helping others with similar talents."

Willow frowned. "If he practices earth magic, why was he in charge of putting the spell together? Why wasn't it you? Or me or Giles? If it's not his thing, how could he do it?"

Buffy wasn't sure Winston hadn't started to roll his eyes, realizing she was right when she felt Spike give a soft chuckle.

Holding Willow's suspicious gaze Winston responded, "Because he is probably the most powerful and knowledgeable magic practitioner you will ever meet. He prefers to work with healers now because he is a kind and gentle man who spent more of his early years trying to teach arrogant and potentially violent youngsters how to contain and control their own power than he should have. He has earned the right to a quiet retirement where he can pick and choose those he is willing to mentor." Unspoken but understood by everyone in the room was "and you are not one of them."

Buffy held her breath, waiting for the explosion, but Willow blinked her surprise then nodded and relaxed, seeming to feel suitably chastised.

Giles cleared his throat and said, "If you don't feel it would be intruding too much into Max's privacy, what is he—sorcerer, shaman, warlock, mage, magician, witch….?"

"Yes."

There was a pause before they all realized that was the complete answer. Giles gave an audible gasp, as did Willow. A soft "wow" from Anya summed up the feeling in the room.

"You'll have to explain some of those to me later," Buffy whispered to Spike, who nodded.

"Well, then, if we're all clear that we cannot completely relax until the anticipated date for opening the portal has passed, although Buffy and Spike will be doing most of the work of keeping Dawn safe, then I believe we can go back to our normal activities."

They all pushed back their chairs and stood up. As Xander and Anya walked toward the door, he pointed his finger at Buffy, saying, "Bubble wrap. Look into it."

"How about Spike wrap?" Spike said as he put his arms around her from behind. She looked over her shoulder at him.

"Sounds like a plan I could work with."

Their kiss was interrupted by Willow and Tara. Willow beamed at Tara, saying, "Tara had a good idea. We can make amulets for Dawn and you guys that will flare up if there's danger nearby any of you."

"That sounds great," Buffy said, pinching Spike's arm before he could say something snarky. Smiling, Willow and Tara walked out, talked animatedly about what herbs they would need and where to find just the right spells.

"Well done," Winston said as he and Giles smiled their approval of Buffy's handling.

"Yes. Rather than antagonize Willow by pointing out that you can already sense most dangers, you've given her a way to feel useful."

Buffy nodded. "I'm learning to be less… confrontational… as I get older."

"Catch more flies with honey," Spike said, nodding his agreement.

"Says the man who always wants to hit first and apologize later." Buffy laughed along with Giles and Winston as Spike tried to look offended, something he seemed to find difficult to do with his arms still around Buffy.

Saying their good-nights to Giles and Winston, Spike and Buffy left to do another patrol before heading home. Spike looked somewhat wistful as he heard the two men discussing where they were going to go to get a drink, but he dutifully followed Buffy into the night.


	23. Chapter 23

**CHAPTER TWENTY-THREE**

Six weeks, and two unsuccessful demon attempts to kidnap Dawn later, Buffy was curled up next to Spike on the couch and staring at a calendar.

"What was that date again?"

His jaw noticeably tightened as he said, "It was May 22. A Tuesday night."

"I can't believe you can still remember the exact date and the day of the week," she said. " _I'm_ the one who died."

"And that's why I can remember the date," he said with a growl. "Worst night of my life… up to that point, anyway."

She rubbed her face on his arm, smiling when she felt the tension leave his body.

"I wasn't trying to bring up painful memories," she said. "I'm just trying to figure out how much longer we have until we can relax."

"Maybe you can relax," he said, pulling her onto his lap. "I'll be waiting to see what you not dying does to the timeline."

"This stuff makes my head hurt," she admitted. "If I don't die, and don't get brought back, the First won't be as powerful because there will still be balance. But if that's how it went in our time, I probably wouldn't have—"

"You don't think I would have worn you down with my charm and sexy body?" he teased, his voice having just enough fear in it to make her fasten her mouth on her mark on his neck. She sucked on it until she felt him begin to purr, then sat up and stared at him.

"I don't have any idea what would have happened. Maybe I wouldn't have been so depressed I needed you to help me feel alive. That doesn't mean we wouldn't have gotten together anyway. You still would have kept Dawn's secret for me and helped us run and away and fight. We were sort of… friends… by this time that year. And we might have still been friends by the fall. Who knows?"

She nudged him and wriggled on his lap. "You do have a pretty sexy body. I'd already noticed that."

"Is that so…? You never let me know that, you little minx."

"Can't tell you all my secrets," she said.

"Could have told me that one," he grumbled. "Making me think nothing I could do would make you want me."

"Wanting you wasn't the problem. Being willing to admit I did, and accepting that it wasn't a rejection of everything a slayer should be…. That was the tricky part."

"It really was the soul, wasn't it?" he said quietly, almost as if he was talking to himself. "That's what made it okay for you to admit to yourself—"

"You didn't have the soul when I had to watch you and Anya on live TV. My reaction to that pretty much trashed my ability to believe I didn't have any feelings for you. I was terrified Xander was going to kill you. I don't know the last time I ran that fast or that hard."

He looked at her with surprise. "You were comin' to save me? I was sure you were coming to take my head off yourself."

"I'm not saying I didn't want to… to hurt you as much as you'd just hurt me. But I didn't want you to be dust." She frowned. "Why did you think I was going to kill you?"

"Because, all your denials aside, I knew you cared about me. And I know what it feels like to have somebody you… love… shagging somebody else right in front of you. You were hurtin' and it was my fault. And you're the Slayer. Just seemed like something you'd do."

She stiffened and moved off his lap.

"You thought—think I'd kill somebody I love? Just because they had sex with somebody else?"

"Ah, don't look at me like that, sweetheart." He tried to touch her face, but she flinched away. "Nobody loves and forgives like you do. Know that, don't I? But all I knew then was that I'd just hurt you, and you had every right to want to be rid of me."

She sighed and shook her head. "I didn't have a right. And neither did Xander. We'd ended things ourselves. He dumped her at the altar, and I told you to move on. I know that, and in the back of my mind, I knew it then. I had no right to be hurt or mad at you."

"You had every right, love," he said, tugging her back onto his lap. "Man tells you he loves you, you have a right to expect him to behave like he does." His expression darkened. "Wish to hell I'd picked a better way to try to prove it to you."

"So do I," she agreed softly. "But if that's why you went and got your soul back, it was worth it."

"And we're back to that bein' what made all the difference," he said. "If I didn't have it, we wouldn't be sitting here like this, would we?"

"I don't know! I just told you I probably did love you before then."

"You loved me. Tried to tell you so, didn't I? But you wouldn't let yourself believe it until I got that shiny new soul."

"Are we going to fight about this?"

"No, 'course not. I was just thinking about how I won't be going off to get a soul this time, so…."

"You won't need to! You've already got it from our time. That's not going to go away just because you don't have a reason to run off to get it…is it?"

She frowned, remembering how Dracula's bite mark had disappeared. One look at Spike's face told her he'd had the same thought, although he tried to cover for it.

He gave a casual shrug. "Don't know, love. Pay me no mind. I just let my mind wander off to places it probably shouldn't go. You're absolutely right. I've already got it and got no intention of losing it."

Buffy straddled his lap and grabbed him by his ears to make him look at her.

"Just so you know, it wouldn't matter to me if you did lose it. I know you too well now to worry that anything would change if you didn't have a soul anymore. You're not Angel, and you never will be. You're Spike. And you're _my_ Spike, with or without the soul."

"I'm your mate," he said, leaning his forehead against hers. "Nothing can change that."

"And I'm your… something that doesn't make us sound like wolves," she said, glaring at him when he laughed at her refusal to call herself his mate.

"That you are, love. You're stuck with me now."

"I can think of worse places to be stuck."

She kissed him, then got off his lap. "I think Mom's expecting us for dinner before we patrol. I'm going to change my shoes and then I'll be ready to go."

 **XXXX**

They were surprised to find Giles and Winston at Joyce's house when they got there.

"I just invited them at the last minute because I'd made so much sauce," Joyce explained. "You don't mind, do you?"

"Of course not," Buffy said. "What's new, guys?"

"We've just been discussing how there are only a few weeks until the portal's time will have passed and Joyce and Dawn can breathe a bit easier."

"Yep. May 22, and then the Key has nothing to open and can go back to being a bratty kid."

"Very funny," Dawn muttered. "You don't know that. I might have all kinds of Key stuff I could do, if we just knew what it was and how to do it."

"That's actually quite possible," Winston said. "We can look into that and see what else we can learn about the Key once the primary danger is over."

"See!" Dawn stuck her tongue out at Buffy, who just rolled her eyes.

Giles interrupted the exchange of sibling disrespect to say, "I had an interesting phone call today… from Los Angeles."

Spike's growl had barely begun when Giles shook his head in reassurance. "Not him. From Wesley."

"What did he want?" Spike's genuine interest wasn't lost on anyone.

Instead of answering right away, Giles said, "Did you know him well in your time?"

Spike shook his head. "Well enough to know he was the brains in that outfit. And the magic expert. Might have had some help there from Lorne, but—" He sighed. "I had a chance to watch everybody while I was a ghost, but didn't always have control over how long I could stay in one place. Managed to have a few nice chats with Wes though. Know he was pretty gone on Fred—that's the brilliant little thing that was trying to help me get solid again," he explained. "And I'm not sure he was all that happy about being at Wolfram and Hart. He had some history with somebody there. Unhappy history. I think we could have become friends one day if I'd stayed around longer. But Oxford is who helped the poof send me back here."

Spike put his arm around Buffy and smiled. "Reckon I owe him one for that," he said. "Now that I think about it."

"What did he want?" Buffy brought Giles's attention back to the original question.

"It seems he's a bit disappointed in Angel's behavior, both when they were here and there in LA, He was asking me about you and Spike and how you'd come to the conclusion that Angel had put a claim on you —as well as how you and Spike had come to know each other well enough to have any sort of relationship, never mind one that resulted in a mutual claim."

"What did you tell him?"

"As much as I could without actually telling him what he doesn't need to know. However, he is interested in coming here for a while to talk to you about how you realized Angel had made a claim and how you broke it."

"What do you think?" Buffy looked to Giles first, and then Spike.

"Wish I could tell you, love. He's a smart man, he might figure it out."

"How bad would that be?" Buffy addressed her question to Giles, then, on a hunch glanced at Winston. "Do you have any idea, Winston?"

He smiled at her astuteness, then sighed. "In my timeline, he was part of your group of friends, not Angel's. In fact, they were quite estranged, as I remember it."

Giles cleared his throat. "Well, in that case, I suggest we let him know he is welcome to visit and just see where that takes us."

"Okay. You can tell him I'll explain it to him if he wants me to. But I'm pretty sure he heard every word I yelled at Angel. You'd think he might've figured it out by now."

"Perhaps he just wants to hear it from you again. When you are calmer."

Buffy shrugged. "Fine. But tell him to wait for a few weeks. Let's be sure the portal can't be opened, and that I've made it far enough past that date —"

Spike's snarl startled everyone, and Buffy turned to him. "Come on, you're the one who said you won't relax until it's mid-summer and everybody's still okay."

"Spike," Winston said gently. "You know it isn't Buffy's death that created the problem. It was her resurrection after being dead for months that allowed the First to rise. Preventing her death is only the first part of the formula. It may or may not be possible."

When Spike looked even less happy about that reminder, Winston took a deep breath before saying, "I've talked about this with Master Maxmillian…." He waited until they all obviously understood that he was emphasizing Max's age and experience for a reason, then continued, "and we are fairly certain that if something happens to Buffy once we are past the original date of her death, a quick resuscitation, a magical CPR if you will, should not have any effect on the balance in the universe. Particularly as it is likely the dark forces Willow called upon in order to bring Buffy back in your time no doubt had as much to do with stirring up the First Evil as did Buffy's actual return to life."

"What are you sayin' exactly…?"

"I'm saying that if something unfortunate should happen to Buffy, Max is willing to do whatever is necessary to prevent her from dying again. With assistance from Tara, and even Willow, if necessary. He will not allow her to die again. At least not long enough to disturb the forces of evil if she is brought back to life."

" _Max_ won't let her die. Not you?" Spike's gaze was less angry than Buffy would have expected.

"As you no doubt are beginning to understand, my own talents lie more in the direction of destroying than rebuilding."

While Spike just nodded, Buffy said, "But my mom. You healed her!"

"I destroyed the tumor that was killing her. What drained me was not the destruction of the tumor, which was a fairly simple process, but the need to be careful to do so without destroying her. I have spent many years learning to control my ability… and need… to destroy, and I have succeeded quite well. But it is still difficult to turn it off sometimes."

"That's why you didn't want to let Doc go!" Buffy said with a gasp. "And why Max asked if you were okay."

"Indeed. He was prepared to contain me if it became necessary. We'd discussed it beforehand and he had…has… my permission to step in if I appear to be losing control."

"But you didn't," Spike said with admiration. "You fought that urge to a standstill."

Winston exchanged a long gaze with Spike, then nodded. "Fighting down your demon when its power is no longer needed is something I expect you are quite familiar with." Winston raised a questioning eyebrow.

"I've had my moments," Spike admitted with a shrug. "Not as many of them now that I have my soul, but yeah, it's bloody hard work sometimes."

Buffy and Giles stared back and forth between them, beginning to understand why Winston and Spike might have become friends so quickly. And also a bit more about why Winston had been sent back to help them.

Joyce's voice brought everyone's attention back to the dinner she was preparing to set out.

"I'm still working on believing in vampires, demons, hellgods, mystical keys, time-travelling slayers, and having daughters who are or fight those things. Can we just skip the details about magical powers and fighting internal demons until after dinner?" She gave Spike a hard look.

He smiled back at her. "Didn't mean to frighten you, Joyce. It's been a very long time since anyone in your family has been in any danger from me. And even when I thought I wanted to kill Buffy, I somehow never managed to do it, did I?"

"Well, that's because Buffy is the Slayer. And, if I'm to understand Rupert correctly, she's very good at it."

"She is indeed very good at it," Spike said with an admiring glance at Buffy. "Always has been."

His demeanor changed, and without actually going into game face he managed to exude menace and power.

"But I'm also very good at what I do—did, and I still didn't kill her. Made a truce with her way back when I was pretty sure I hated her, because I trusted her to be able to handle Angelus if she had a little help getting' Dru out of the way. I was safe for your family to be around then, and I'm even safer now."

"As reassuring as I'm sure you meant that to be, I meant it when I said not until after dinner!" Joyce glared at Spike until his intimidating demeanor faded into an embarrassed shrug and a "Yes, Mum."

Winston and Giles tried to smother their smiles, but Buffy and Dawn laughed aloud, earning a muffled but genuine growl from Spike as he sat back in his chair and waved the humans into the kitchen to fill their plates as Joyce was suggesting they do.

 **EPILOGUE**

Spike lounged under a large beach umbrella, his decades of avoiding the sun making him too uncomfortable to enjoy a day at the beach in spite of knowing the Gem would keep him safe. He'd allowed Buffy and Dawn to drag him into the water a few times, but shook his head when they suggested he join them in basking on the sand.

"Not my thing. Anybody asks, just tell them I'm allergic or something." They'd long-since learned that, while the Gem protected him from the sun's ability to make him combust, it did not allow his abnormally pale skin to tan, so it was a good explanation for his hasty retreats to the shade.

"The water is so much fun," Buffy said, as she joined him for her own respite from the hot sun. "I wish you liked it enough to stay in it longer."

"If you want to play games in the water, love, all you had to do was say so. We can come back one evening and swim to your heart's content. Don't dislike it, it's just not something I've ever had a reason to get used to. In my time as a human, gentlemen didn't strip naked to go play on a beach. They swam in a lake or river, away from prying eyes. But even then, it wasn't something I did very often once I was grown. My father taught me to swim, but after he died, I never went again. And after I was vamped, the only time I saw water was by moonlight." He paused, then added, "And that time your bloody ex threw me and Sam out of a submarine. Had enough ocean that time to last me for decades."

Buffy frowned at his mention of Angel, but concentrated on the main part of his excuse.

"You like being naked," she pointed out. "And anyway, nobody's naked here!" She gestured at the beach full of tanned people in various types of swimming attire.

Spike looked her up and down, leering at all the skin exposed by her bikini.

"May as well be by Victorian standards," he said. "Close to naked, the whole lot of you."

He pulled her closer and frowned as he looked at the fading scar on her left arm. "Looks like it's doing better," he said.

Buffy nodded. "It doesn't hurt much anymore. Tara was amazing. I know she couldn't have done anything like this back in our time." She flexed the arm he was holding.

"Well, I'm just bloody glad she can," he said, kissing the scar before releasing Buffy's hand. "Thought for sure I was going to lose you anyway, to a giant gopher of all things!"

Buffy smiled. "Giles says it was a G'maluk demon. And hard to kill with just a stake."

 **XXX**

They were both quiet, remembering the previous week when they had separated to cover different parts of the cemetery, and Buffy's left arm had been partially severed by the bite of a very large, furry demon. Spike's anguished cry of "Buffy!" as he sprinted toward where the demon was shaking her like a rat, brought Tara and Willow running from where they'd been working on fire ball spells in time to watch him leap onto the demon's back and wrench the jaws apart with his bare hands.

By the time a badly bleeding and only semi-conscious Buffy hit the ground, Tara was already muttering words over the wound, and the spurting blood was slowing down to a trickle. Willow had turned her scarf into a tourniquet, and she waved Spike off.

"We've got this. Go get him."

Giving Buffy one last look and listening to her rapid, but even heartbeat, he nodded and turned his attention back to the demon that had dropped to all fours and run off, shaking its head in an attempt to make its jaw stop hurting. Cursing at himself for not having a sword with him—something that had become habit during the time they had to worry about Glory's minions—he chased after it and jumped on the creature's back to twist its head off.

Which, without the adrenaline-fueled strength he'd had when he needed to get Buffy out of its jaws, turned out not to be possible. He and the demon rolled on the ground snarling, but the demon was unable to bite with his dislocated jaws and Spike was soon ripping its throat out. When he was sure it had bled to death, he ran back to where Tara was still working over Buffy, now slumped in Willow's arms.

Tara glanced up when Spike's gasp brought her attention to his face, and said quickly, "She's okay, Spike. I just put her out so she wouldn't feel the pain and wouldn't try to move. Now we need to get her somewhere I can get some herbs into her and make sure the bite is healing as it should."

Spike had taken Buffy from Willow and stood with her in his arms. "Where to?" he demanded.

"Our place," Willow said. We've got the things we—Tara needs there. Once we're sure she's on the mend, you can take her home."

 **XXX**

Spike and Buffy moved closer together as they remembered that night, only a week ago.

"Thought I was going to lose you again," he repeated.

"But you didn't. I'm all here, I'm alive, and not resurrected. It's going to be okay."

"Two more years to get through without mucking something up so bloody badly we can't fix it," he said, putting his arm around her. "It's you and me. What could go wrong?"

"We've got this." She rolled toward him and put her good arm around his chest. "If the First Evil tries to raise his ugly head again, we're going to land on it with both feet."

"That's my girl," he said, squeezing her tightly.

"Always will be," she replied. She thought for a moment, then sat up and stared at him. "Did we just renew our claim?"

He frowned back, then shrugged. "Might have, I reckon. That's alright, yeah?"

"It's very all right."

They beamed at each other, only turning away when Dawn ducked under the umbrella to complain.

"Hey, if you two aren't going play, we might as well go home. I have a normal life to lead."

"You let us know how that's workin' out for you, Bit," Spike said, laughing as he stood up and began to close the umbrella.

"You don't know. It could happen." Dawn glared at him, hands on her hips.

"It could. It probably won't," Buffy said cheerfully. "But that's what you have us for."

The End

(of this section)


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